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YOUNG AMERICAN STORY BOOK 


STORIES OF 

EVERYDAY WONDERS 


By^JANE (eayre) fryer 

AUTHOR OF “THE MARY FRANCES SEWING BOOK;” 
“THE MARY FRANCES COOK BOOK,” AND OTHER 
“MARY FRANCES STORY-INSTRUCTION BOOKS” 


ILLUSTRATED BY 

EDNA W. COOKE 

I AND FROM PHOTOGRAPHS 


} 

•) 

) > 0 




THE JOHN C. WINSTON COMPANY, Publishers 
Chicago PHILADELPHIA Toronto 



Cop 3 Tight, 1920, by 
The John C. Winston Cc. 
Copyright, 1918 


€i^/3 a 


AMERICANS FOR AMERICA 

THE YOUNG AMERICAN STORY BOOKS have been 
written to meet the public demand for literature of such 
patriotic character and civic nature as will help in making 
better American citizens of children — in other words, such 
as will inculcate real Americanism. 

Since the World War, as never before, we have come to 
recognize that even young children are citizens, just as 
much as adults are. We have come to see that, as citizens, 
bo3^s and girls must be taught Americanism — must be 
trained in good citizenship; and that, if they are to be good 
adult citizens, we cannot wait for them to grow up, but 
must give them such training in youth. 

The first volume. Stories of Everyday Friends^ starts 
with the child in the home, and many of the stories are 
drawn from the daily life of the usual child in the average 
American family. Attention is called to the daily service 
of the friends who help the family to live. These friends 
are the baker, the milkman, the grocer, the doctor, the 
nurse, and others without whose work the family would 
find it hard to hve comfortably. 

The question naturally arises, '^How should such helpful 
friends be treated?’^ The stories in the volume which teach 
such simple virtues as courtesy, helpfulness, truthfulness, 
fair play, thoroughness, honesty, and respect answer the 
question. Even the services of the grocer's horse are not 


overlooked, for kindness to animals is one of the topics 
treated. 

Similarly, in the second volume. Stones of Everyday 
Heroes, the stories are about the services of another set 
of people who help guard and defend that most valuable 
institution — the American home. These helpers are every- 
day heroes such as the policeman, the fireman, the street 
cleaner, the Red Cross worker, and others who give daily 
patriotic services. Not only are their services examples of 
good Americanism, but they are of such a nature as to 
supply stories of courage, self-control, thrift, perseverance, 
and patriotism. Here the young citizen is again taught 
kindness to animals as part of his training in fair play. 

In the third volume. Stories of Everyday Wonders, a 
new set of interests is pointed out. Stories are told of the 
telephone, the telegraph, of water, gas, and electricity, and 
other comforts and advantages that surround the children 
of to-day. In this volume, as in the former volumes, the 
question, ^‘What can I do?^^ is answered. The child is 
shown just what useful services may be rendered by children. 
Caring for Our City’s Trees, Clean-up Day, Vacation 
Gardens, Safety First, First Aid, and Junior Red Cross 
Work are topics of stories which will inspire young citizens 
to patriotic service, and prepare them for the serious 
responsibilities which await every child in America to-day. 


CONTENTS 


PART I 

PUBLIC UTILITIES 

Some of the Services Rendered by Such Community 
Servants as Water, Gas, Electricity, the Telephone. 

Water 

Our Need of Water page 

The Water Hole 5 

The Ancient Mariner 8 

Paul Kruger’s Hat 10 

Dobbin Likes Water 12 

How Water Serves Us 14 

The City’s Water Supply. 

1. In Colonial Days 16 

2. ZuNi Indians Visit New York 17 

3. The Waterworks 18 

How Water is Brought Into Our Houses. 

1. The Reservoir 20 

2. The Village Standpipe 21 

3. The Pumping Station 22 

How Water is Filtered 23 

New York’s Water Supply 25 

The Brook, Alfred Tennyson 26 

(ix) 


page 


How Water is Used in Fighting Fires. 

1. The Fire-Engines 28 

2. The High-Pressure Service 29 

Water and Fire 30 

Underground Waters 31 

Our Duty in Regard to the Water Supply. 

1. How to Save Water 32 

2. How TO Read the Water Meter 33 

Artesian Wells 36 

Where Waste Water Goes 37 

White Coal 39 

Water as Used for Industrial Power— Niag- 
ara Falls 41 

Water as Used for Irrigation — The Elephant 

Butte Dam 41 

Water as Used for Navigation and Commerce 

—The Panama Canal 42 

Gas 

The Two Great Lights 45 

Lighting in Colonial Days. 

1. Early Lamplighters 46 

2. Indoor Lighting 47 

3. The First Gas Light 48 

4. Matches 49 

The House Supply of Gas 50 

The Service Pipe 54 

A Visit to the Gas Works 57 

George Learns How to Make an Experi- 
ment 61 

(x) 


PAGE 

Natural Gas 64 

The Meter Reader 65 

The Dangerous Coin Meter 68 

. Care in the Use of Gas 69 

The Gas Range 71 

Electricity 

Franklin’s Kite. 

1. Electricity and Lightning 75 

2. Flying the Kite 76 

3. How THE Kite was Made 78 

Servants of Man. 

1. Early Inventions 80 

2. The Electric Giant 83 

How Electricity is Carried. 

1. The Wires 85 

2. Danger of Exposed Wires 85 

The Incandescent Lamp. 

1. The Inventor 87 

2. What the Incandescent Lamp Is 88 

3. What this Lamp Does for Us 89 

How Electricity Lights the City. 

1. The Dark Day of 1780 91 

2. The Dark Day of 1917 92 

3. What Happened in the City 93 

4. What Happened in the Power House 94 

The Electric Telegraph. 

1. The Inventor 96 

2. The Use of the Telegraph 97 

(xi) 


Wireless. ' 

1. How IT Works 99 

2. How IT Helps the Ships at Sea 100 

Other Uses of Electricity. 

1. The Electric Street Car 103 

2. The Electric Train 104 

3. Electric Driven Machinery 105 

4. Domestic Uses of Electricity 106 

The Telephone 

Distant Speaking Ill 

The Story of the Invention of the Tele- 
phone. 

1. The Inventor of the Telephone 113 

2. The Little Workshop 114 

3. The Emperor of Brazil 115 

The Transcontinental Telephone 118 

Flying Words 120 

The Family Telephone 122 

The Voices of Two Oceans 123 

Telephoning by Wireless 126 

The Network of Telephone Wires 128 

A Visit to a Telephone Central Office. ... 131 

The Telephone Girl 133 

Stories of the Telephone Girl. 

1. The Hotel Fire 135 

2. The Bank Robbers 137 

3. The Drowning Man 138 

Correct Method of Using the Telephone . . 141 
Aladdin’s Lamp 144 

(xii) 


PART II 

COMMUNITY INTEREST 
The Neighborhood. The City Beautiful. Safety First. 

The Neighborhood 

The Public School. 

1. The Children’s Building. 151 

2. The Children’s Army 152 

3. Armories and Forts 153 

4. Citizens Who Will Rule the Future . . 154 

My Country’s Gift 155 

Before the Days of Public Schools 156 

A Nation’s Builders, Ralph Waldo Emerson. . . 157 

Why Schools are Free 158 

Teacher and Pupil 160 

Wider Use of School Buildings 162 

Stay in School 164 

The Playground. 

Fair Play 165 

The American Boy, Theodore Roosevelt 169 

Public Playgrounds 170 

The Library. 

The Story of the Little Giants 172 

How Books Grew 177 

A List of Books You Will Enjoy Reading 184 

Other Places of General Interest 185 

The City Beautiful 

Trees for our City. 

Charney’s Weed 189 

(xiii) 


PAGE 

Arbor Day 192 

Caring for Trees 193 

Protecting our City’s Trees 196 

How TO Measure the Height of a Tree 197 

Aututmn Leaves 198 

When We Plant a Tree, Henry Abbey 200 

Caring for Our Allies, the Birds 201 

The Planting of the Apple Tree, Bryant 204 

Flowers for Our City 205 

1. Window Boxes 206 

2. Flower Beds 207 

My Plant, L . H . Bailey 210 

Vacant-Lot Gardens 212 

Clean-up Week. 

Spotless Town 213 

A Letter from a Tennessee Girl 214 

Spokane’s Health Advertisements 217 

The Filthy Flies 219 

Midget Murderers 220 

No Standing AVater— No Mosquitoes 224 

Public Squares and Parks. 

1. The Public Square 226 

2. The Public Park 227 

3. The Band Concert in the Park 229 

What Makes a City Beautiful 232 

Safety First 

How THE City Protects Us 234 

How We May Protect Ourselves 236 

(xiv) 


PAGE 


Your Civic Duty 238 

Watch Your Step! Look Before You Leap! 240 
A Three Hundred Million Dollar Bonfire. 

Common Causes of Fire 241 

To Avoid Accidents from Fire 242 

First Aid to the Sick or Injured. 

1. Little Accidents 244 

2. Neglected Wounds 244 

3. Fourth of July Accidents 244 

4. What are Germs? 246 

5. First Aid Treatment of Little Accidents 247 

Powder Wounds 247 

Cuts and Small Wounds 247 

Burns and Scalds 248 

Bruises 248 

Fainting 248 

Something in the Eye 249 

Stings or Bites of Insects 249 

Electric Shock 250 

Breathing and Posture 251 

The Bubbling Fountain, HeZen Hoyi 252 

Daily Record of Health Habits 253 

To Make a Sanitary Drinking Cup 254 

PART HI 

THE AMERICAN RED CROSS 
Junior Membership and School Activities. 

Patriotism and Service. 

A Proclamation 258 

A Great Honor 259 

(xv) 


PAGE 


The Junior Red Cross 260 

The Good Citizen 261 

How THE Juniors Served in Time of War.C. 262 
How THE Juniors Serve in Time of Peace. . . 262 

The Flag of Service 264 

Your Country, Emile Souvestre 265 

The Story of the Red Cross Flag. 

1. Henri Dunant 266 

2. The Meeting at Geneva 267 

The American Red Cross.. 268 

The International Red Cross 270 

The Meaning of Our Red Cross, H . N . 

MacCracken ’ 271 

The Living Liberty Flag 272 

Co-operation 273 

The New Aristocracy 274 

Lincoln at Independence Hall 275 

America for Americans 276 

In Flanders Fields, John D . McCrae 277 

Freedom is King, Ralph Waldo Emerson 278 

Our Flag, Edward A . Horton 279 

A Song for the Patriot, Wilbur D . Nesbit 281 

Ship of State, Henry W . Lmicfellow 283 


(xvi) 


PART I 


PUBLIC UTILITIES 

•Some of the Services Rendered by such Community 
Servants as Water, Gas, Electricity, the Telephone. 





WATER 

Nature has given to man many useful servants, but 
none more useful than water. Without water we could 
not quench our thirst, cook our food, wash our clothing, 
sprinkle our gardens, lay the dust in the street, or 
extinguish a large fire. Indeed, without water there 
would be no life on this earth. 



Indians Filling Water Jars. See page 18, 


■xirV MWiim mm umii 




OUR NEED OF WATER 
The Water Hole 

Probably you have all been to the Zoo. What wild 
animals did you see there? Did you see them fed? 
Did they have water? 

Where do you suppose they used to get water before 
they were caged? Did you ever read about the water 
holes in Africa? 

At a certain time of the year water is not plentiful 
in the central parts of Africa. This is called the dry 
season. The little rivers and water courses dry up and 
disappear and the wild animals suffer from thirst. 
What do you think they do then? 

They visit the water holes, or springy places where 
the water collects even in the dry season. Often they 
travel far to reach the water holes, for there are not 
many such places. Sometimes even these are only 
5 



damp spots. Then what do you think they do? They 
dig a hole with their paws and hoofs into which the 
water will run and form a little well. 

CanT you imagine how jealously the different animals 
watch the watering places? Some of the more timid 
wait for hours before they dare venture to get a drink. 
It must be an awful thing to wait so long when thirsty. 

Brave men have made moving pictures of some 
famous water holes in Africa. It is a very dangerous 
business, as you may guess. In setting up the camera 
the men have to be careful that the wind blows away 
from the water hole, or the wild animals coming there 
for a drink may scent them, and — well, it would not 
be any fun to be chased by a wild African lion, would 
it? By working carefully, however, some wonderful 
pictures have been made. 

In one picture many harmless little animals are 
drinking, when along comes a mother elephant followed 
at quite a distance by her big baby. The mother looks 
cautiously around, her tiny bright eyes twinkling. 
After she sees that it is quite safe, she tells the baby to 
come nearer. The mother elephant drinks a trunkful 
of water, then she dashes another trunkful over her 
back. The baby plays around but doesn’t stop to 
take a drink. Suddenly, the mother hears a strange 
noise or scents a wild beast — a lion, perhaps, for she 
turns to the baby and pushes him back. 

The baby does not want to go, evidently, for he 
tries to run away and dig a drinking well. But the 
mother knows that it is best for children to mind, and 
right before everybody, right out in the moving 
6 


picture, she gives the baby a whipping with her big 
strong trunk, and away he goes scampering through 
the thicket, crying too perhaps, for probably he must 
wait a long time before getting a drink. 

All the other little animals run away also, but they 
need not have been frightened, for the newcomers are 
two tall giraffes. 

Did you ever see a giraffe drink? His forelegs are 



so long that he cannot reach the water as a horse 
does. So he spreads his legs wide apart in a most 
awkward manner and drinks just as you see in this 
picture. 

While the giraffes are drinking, some antelopes come 
to the water hole. They seem to know that the big 
giraffes will not harm them. No sooner have the 
giraffes gone than a group' of little monkeys appear. 
They seem hurried, and drink quickly. 

After a long, long wait, at sunset, the photographers 
hear stealthy soft footsteps, and a lion and lioness 
7 


creep up to the drinking hole. They lap quarts and 
quarts of water eagerly, forgetting for a while to sniff 
the air for prey. All the time the camera man has 
been snapping the picture. 

All through the dry season there are many such 
scenes at the water holes. Day and night the wild 
animals of the forest, both big and little, come singly 
and in groups to drink. Even the most timid will 
brave lions and tigers to quench their thirst, for every 
living animal must have air, food, and water in order 
to live. 


The Ancient Mariner 

In a very remarkable poem, ''The Ancient Mariner,'' 
written in 1797, Samuel Taylor Coleridge, the English 
poet, describes the horror of being in midocean without 
a drink of fresh water. 

The ancient mariner, so the story runs, killed a 
large bird, an albatross, which rested on his sailing 
vessel. Suddenly the ship was becalmed in the midst 
of the deep Pacific Ocean. 

In the following lines, the poet lets the sailor tell his 
story to a man who is on his way as a guest to a 
wedding: 

Down dropt the breeze, the sails dropt down, 
'Twas sad as sad could be. 

And we did speak only to break 
The silence of the sea. 

8 



All in a hot and copper sky, 

The bloody sun, at noon. 

Right up above the mast did stand 
No bigger than the moon. 

Day after day, day after day. 

We stuck, nor breath nor motion; 

As idle as a painted ship 
Upon a painted ocean. 

Water, water, everywhere 
And all the boards did shrink; 

Water, water, everjrwhere. 

Nor any drop to drink. 


And every tongue, through utter drought, 

Was withered at the root; 

We could not speak, no more than if 
We had been choked with soot. 

The sailor goes on to tell the wedding guest how, in a 
miraculous way, after the other men aboard die of 
thirst, and after long, weary, terrible experiences, he 
is brought to firm land; and how ever afterward he 
must travel from place to place telling some one the 
lessons he has learned. 

In these words, he sums up the lessons: 

Farewell, farewell! but this I tell 
To thee, thou wedding guest,— 

He prayeth well, who loveth well. 

Both man and bird and beast. 

He prayeth best, who loveth best 
All things both great and small; 

For the dear God who loveth us, 

He made and loveth all. 


Paul Kruger's Hat 

Do you know who Paul Kruger was? 

He was the president uf the South African Republic, 
and the leader of his people in the Boer War. 

His people thought so much of him that they erected 
a statue in the public square at Pretoria to perpetuate 
10 


his memory and to show him honor. This statue was 
a bronze figure of President Kruger wearing a long 
coat and a tall hat. 

When the design was shown to Mrs. Kruger for her 
approval, the only suggestion she made was that the 
flat top of the tall hat be hollowed out like a saucer — 
in order that the rain water might collect there for the 
birds to drink. 

This was accordingly done, and as long as the statue 
of Paul Kruger stands, the birds will have a drinking 
place in the top of his hat. 



If all the land were bread and cheese. 

And all the water were ink — 

What would the creatures of this earth. 
What would they have to drink? 

— Old Rhyme. 


11 


Dobbin Likes Water 

If you ever drive a horse, here are some of the ways 
in which you can help make him glad that you are 
his driver: 

First: Load lightly and drive slowly. 

Second: Stop in the shade if possible. 

Third: Water your horse as often as possible. So 
long as a horse is working, water in small quantities will 
not hurt him. But let him drink only a few swallows 
if he is going to stand still. Do not fail to water him at 
night after he has eaten his hay. 

Fourth: When he comes in after work, sponge off 
the harness marks and sweat from his eyes, his nose 
and mouth and neck. 

Fifth: Do not use a horse hat, unless it is a canopy- 
top hat. The ordinary bell-shaped hat does more harm 
than good. A sponge on top of the head, or even a 
cloth is good if kept wet. If dry it is worse than nothing. 

Sixth : If the horse is overcome by heat, get him into 
the shade, remove harness and bridle, shower his legs 
and give him two ounces of aromatic spirit of ammonia 
or two ounces of sweet spirit of nitre in a pint of water; 
or give him a pint of warm coffee. Cool his head at 
once, using cold water, or, if possible, chopped ice 
wrapped in a cloth. 

Seventh: Watch your horse. If he stops sweating 
suddenly or if his breath is short and quick, or if his 
ears droop, or if he stands with his legs braced side- 
ways, he is in danger of a heat stroke and needs atten- 
tion at once. 


12 


Eighth: If it is so hot that the horse sweats in the 
stable at night, tie him outside, with bedding under 
him. Unless he cools off during the night he cannot 
well stand the next day’s heat. 

— Rules of the Boston Work Horse Relief Association. 



QUESTIONS 

Have you ever been dreadfully thirsty? 

How did the Ancient Mariner feel when thirsty? 

How do sailors get water now? 

Do animals ever suffer from thirst? 

Do you think it is wise for the government to pass laws 
protecting horses? Why? 

Can you repeat the last two stanzas of the poem about the 
Ancient Mariner? 


It's no use to grumble and complain, 

It's just as cheap and easy to rejoice; 

When God sorts out the weather and sends rain, 
Why, rain's my choice! 


13 


— James Whitcomb Riley 



HOW WATER SERVES US 

Without water, human beings, animals, and plants 
could not live. The human body is four-fifths water. 
If your body weighs one hundred pounds, about eighty 
pounds of the hundred are water, and about twenty 
pounds are solid matter. A grown man consumes, 
either in his food or as a beverage, nearly a ton of 
water each year. 

All plants contain much water. Potatoes are three- 
quarters water; apples are four-fifths water, and 
watermelons are nearly all water. Even a loaf of bread 
is almost one-haK water. 

Water climbs, in the form of sap, through the delicate 
tubes of the plant and tree, and supplies the leaves with 
food for growth. Water flows through our bodies as 
blood, carrying food for repairs to the various parts 
"'of the house we live in.'' 

In summer, water comes from the clouds as rain to 
water every living thing. In winter it comes as a 
blanket of snow over the earth and a covering of ice 
over the lakes and rivers to keep the fishes warm and 
comfortable underneath. 

The streams turn water wheels which drive the 
machinery of mills and factories, or speed the great 
dynamos which generate electricity. 

As the ocean, water bears on its bosom the mighty 
ships which sail from port to port and carry on the 
commerce of the world. 

These are only a few of the uses of water. Perhaps 
you can name others. 


14 


QUESTIONS 

Can you imagine what kind of place this earth would be if 
we had no more rain? 

What would happen to the trees and plants? 

What would happen to the birds and animals? 

What would become of men and women, and boys and girls? 

Did you ever have a garden? Could your plants grow without 
water? 

If a piece of watermelon lies in the sun^s rays until thoroughly 
dry, how much of it will be left? What does that show? 

What do you think about the value of water? 

Is it of more value to us than diamonds? Than gold or silver? 
Than iron? Why? 


The rain is raining all around, 

It falls on field and tree, 

It rains on the umbrellas here, 

And on the ships at sea. 

— Robert Louis Stevemon. 


How beautiful is the rain! 

After the dust and heat. 

In the broad and fiery street. 

In the narrow lane. 

How beautiful is the rain! 

In the country, on every side. 

Where far and wide. 

Like a leopard's tawny and spotted hide. 
Stretches the plain. 

To the dry grass and the drier grain 
How welcome is the rain! 


15 


— Longfellow, 


THE CITY^S WATER SUPPLY 
1. In Colonial Days 




In Colonial times each household had to provide its 
own water supply. Sometimes this was taken from a 
nearby stream or lake, but more fre- 
quently from a well. These wells were 
dug by hand and lined with stones or 
bricks to keep the sides from 
falling in. Sometimes the water 
was drawn up by means of a 
pump, and sometimes by hand 
with a rope tied to the pail. 
Another method of securing 
water was by using the well- 
sweep. The well-sweep was 
a long heavy pole. The center 
of the pole was fastened to a forked 
stick, forming a kind of see-saw. 

To one end of the sweep was fast- 
ened a heavy weight, and to the 
other an oaken bucket. When the 
bucket was dropped down into the 
well and filled, the weight helped 
to lift the bucket out. To have 
a good well of water in your own 
home was considered a luxury in 
Colonial times. 

Besides private wells, a village often had a public 
well and pump, which was called the town pump. 


From this, the villagers filled their pails. Sometimes 
they used a yoke to carry the water home. The yoke 
was a piece of wood resting over the shoulders. To 
each end of the yoke was fastened 
a chain or strap with a hook on 
which hung the pails. 

To-day many villages and small 
towns have their own waterworks 
which supply water to the people 
just as the water systems of large 
cities do. 

In the country districts where the 
houses are widely scattered each 
household must still provide its own 
supply. Great care must be taken to prevent the 
water from becoming impure. If the well is too near 
the barn and outhouses there is always danger that 
unclean water will drain into it. Many cases of disease 
have been traced to this source. 

2. ZuNi Indians Visit New York 

A story is told of a group of Zuni Indians who once 
visited New York. They were shown all the wonder- 
ful sights of the city. After they had seen everjrthing 
that was to be seen, they were asked what was the 
most wonderful thing that the white man had shown 
them. 

What do you think was their answer? ^'The great 
bridges across the East River; the fifty-story build- 
ings; the Statue of Liberty; perhaps you reply. 

No, none of these things; the Indians said that the 



most wonderful thing, the strangest thing, to them, 
was to be able to open a tap anywhere in the city and 
have a stream of water flow from it. 

That seems a small thing to us because we have 
always been able to get water in this way ever since 
we can remember. But the Zunis lived in the dry 
regions of New Mexico where the rain-fall was scant. 
Their dwellings were in the high rocks and cliffs. When 
they wanted water they had to climb down several 
hundred feet into the canyon below. There they 
would place their water jars under an opening from 
which the water trickled slowly — sometimes drop by 
drop. When the jars were full, they would have to 
climb back up the steep sides of the canyon to their 
homes. So to the Indians the flowing water in every 
house was a great marvel, as it would be to us if we 
had never seen it before. 

3. The Waterworks 

Yes, the Indians were right. The most important 
thing for every city is an abundant supply of pure 
water. Without it the people could not live in health 
and comfort and do their work. 

Every community needs water for drinking, cooking, 
bathing, washing clothing, house cleaning, and other 
domestic uses; for sprinkling streets and lawns, for 
fire protection, and for manufacturing purposes. 

Water is supplied to the people of the city through 
the waterworks — sometimes called the water system or 
water service. Every water system is made up of 
many parts. There must be large reservoirs to store 
18 


the water as it comes from the river, the lake, or the 
artesian well. There must be pumping stations to 
pump the water into the reservoirs and through the 
mains of the city. There must be filter beds to purify 
the water when necessary. There must be street mains 
and service pipes to lead the water to the different parts 
of the city and into the houses. 

Most important of all, there must be many faithful 
workers, for without them the waterworks would be 
useless. These workers build the reservoirs, dig the 
trenches for the water mains, lay the pipes and mend 
them when they break, operate the pumps, and see 
that a constant supply of water is ready for every need. 

Nature provides water freely, just as she does air 
and sunshine. The sun waterworks never cease work- 
ing day or night. The heat of the sun constantly 
draws moisture into the air, where it forms clouds of 
vapor. When the moisture-laden clouds are cooled 
rapidly, the rain falls and waters every living thing. 

But nature does not provide the waterworks by 
means of which water is brought into our homes. She 
does not provide the water system by which each 
person in a large city is supplied with more than one 
hundred gallons per day. This system must be pro- 
vided by the city at great expense, and for this reason 
water is too precious to waste. 

Suppose your city has one hundred thousand houses 
in it, with five spigots in each house; that would be 
half a million spigots from which water could be drawn 
day or night. Of course, this would cost a great deal 
of money. How could you help reduce the cost? 

19 



HOW WATER IS BROUGHT INTO 
OUR HOUSES 

1. The Reservoir 


When you turn a tap and fill your glass with 
cool sparkling water, do you ever wonder where 
the water comes from? 

If you trace the pipe from which the water 
flows, you will see that it enters the house through 



called the service pipe because it serves the house with 
water. It is connected with the street main, which is 
a larger pipe running under the street. The street 
main serves all the houses on the street with water, and 
all the streets of the city have street mains. The 
street mains run into a trunk main, and 
the trunk main runs into the reservoir. 

The reservoir is an artificial lake where 
the city water supply is kept. When 
you turn a tap and draw a glass of water, 
the water in the reservoir sinks just a 
little. The reservoir is built on high land 
so that the water will flow down hill. If 
all the taps or outlets in the city are lower than the 
water in the reservoir, the water flows easily into the 
main and the houses and out at the tap. 

2. The Village Standpipe 

A large city usually needs several reservoirs to store 
its water supply. In the small towns and villages a 
standpipe, or water tower, is often used. This is 
really a small reservoir. 

The standpipe is a huge circular water tank of iron 
or steel. It may be twenty feet across, and one hundred 
feet high, or even larger. Like the reservoir, the stand- 
pipe is always placed on a high spot of ground, so that 
the water will flow freely into the houses. If the water 
in the standpipe is kept at the proper height, the pres- 
sure will be great enough to throw it over the housetops 
in case of fire. 

Sometimes a water tank of wood is set high in the 
21 



air on a framework of steel to hold the water supply 
for a small village. 

City reservoir, village standpipe, water tower or 
tank have only one purpose, and that is to store a 
plentiful supply of pure water for 
all the people of the community. 

3. The Pumping Station 

Whether the water supply 
comes from a lake or river or 
artesian well, powerful pumps are 
needed to pump the water into 
the reservoir and through the 
water mains. The place where 
the pumps are located is called 
the pumping station. The pumps 
are usually driven by great steam 
engines and will pump many 
millions of gallons every day. 

Sometimes the water instead 
of being pumped into the reser- 
voir is pumped directly from the 
source of supply into the water 
pipes of the city. 

This is done in Chicago where 
the city water comes from Lake 
Michigan. The supply is drawn from the lake several 
miles out from shore and is forced through the mains 
by means of great pumping stations. Water from arte- 
sian wells is often sent into the houses in the same way. 
Where the water is impure it must first be filtered. 

22 



HOW WATER IS FILTERED 


Did you ever make a filter? 

It is not a difficult thing to do. Pack a layer of 
pebbles or gravel in the bottom of a six-inch earthen 
flower pot. Place on the pebbles a layer of clean sand 
two or three inches deep. 

If you fill the flower pot with muddy water, and let 
it trickle slowly through the bottom, you will be sur- 
prised at its clearness as it comes 
out. This is exactly what the 
large filters of the waterworks do 
for water which is not clean enough 
to drink. 

You have noticed how clear and 
sparkling spring water is. Can 
you tell why this is so? If you 
think about it a moment you will 
see that water which is strained through the ground 
is filtered and purified. 

Sometimes even clear water is not safe to drink. 
This is because even clear water may contain germs of 
disease. 

People who live along streams and lakes which are 
used for water supply should be careful not to allow 
sewage and other impurities to drain into the water. 
By so doing they protect their own health and the 
health of others. If you are not sure that the water 
you use is pure it should be boiled, because boiling 
kills the germs and makes the water safe for drinking. 
By observing this rule many lives have been saved. 

• 23 



QUESTIONS 

I 

Can you imagine the great network of pipes underlying our 
city streets? 

How does the water get into big city reservoirs? 

Tell something about the great pumps which force the water. 

What is a filter? 

Have you ever seen a filtration plant? 

Why should everything be done to keep the water supply 
clean and pure? 

Make a list of the ways in which water is used, 

(a) In the house; in large factories. 

(b) In the streets. 

Where can you get water in your house? 

Can you tell about the journey of a mouse which started at 
the kitchen water faucet in your house, and ran along the pipes 
until it reached the city reservoir? 

Try to draw a picture of the water pipes under your own house 
and street, remembering that they get larger as they near the 
reservoir. 


II 

Why is the reservoir or standpipe always placed on high ground? 

What does the picture on page 21 shov/? 

Can you explain what is meant by, “Water seeks its own 
level? 

Have you ever visited your city waterworks? 

Where does your city's water supply come from? 

When water is heated to the boihng point it expands into steam ; 
If steam is not allowed to escape, its expansive force will burst 
the boiler which holds it. This expansive force of steam is called 
steam power, and is used to run the steam engine. Can you 
think of a more wonderful use of water than this? 


24 


NEW YORK’S WATER SUPPLY 

The city of New York obtains its water supply 
from mountain streams and lakes. At first the water 
was brought. from Croton Lake, forty miles away. 

As the city grew, it was found that the Croton supply 
was not sufficient. New York needed more water for 
its five million inhabitants, and so the wonderful 
Catskill Aqueduct was built. If you look at a map of 
the state of New York you will see that the Catskill 
Mountains are about one hundred miles north of the 
city, near the Hudson River. The Catskills are 
covered with forests, and many streams of pure 
water rush down the mountain sides into the valleys 
below. 

The water from the streams is gathered into a great 
reservoir known as the Ashokan Reservoir. From this 
reservoir a mighty river of mountain water fiows 
through a huge tunnel down into New York City. 
This river and tunnel are called the Catskill Aqueduct. 
The aqueduct is ninety-two miles long from the 
reservoir to the city line. 

When the aqueduct reaches the Hudson River, how 
do you suppose it crosses it? The point of crossing is 
at Storm King, near West Point. Here the aqueduct 
passes below the bed of the Hudson River at a depth 
of 1140 feet below the river’s surface. High above the 
aqueduct the great river flows on undisturbed. 

After crossing the river the aqueduct keeps on its 
way to the city reservoirs. From these reservoirs the 
water is sent through the mains and pipe lines to the 
25 


different parts of the city, and from these mains it is 
piped to the houses. 

The water supply from Croton Lake and the Catskill 
Mountains is sufficient to provide every one of the 
five million people of New York with* more than a 
hundred gallons of water daily. Think of being able 
to hold your glass under a city tap and to fill it with 
pure water from a mountain stream one hundred 
miles away. 


THE BROOK 

I come from haunts of coot and hern, 
I make a sudden sally 
And sparkle out among the fern. 

To bicker down a valley. 

By thirty hills I hurry down. 

Or slip between the ridges. 

By twenty thorps, a little town. 

And half a hundred bridges. 

Till last by Philip's farm I flow 
To join the brimming river. 

For men may come and men may go. 
But I go on for ever. 

I chatter over stony ways. 

In little sharps and trebles, 

I bubble into eddying bays, 

I babble on the pebbles. 

26 


With many a curve my banks I fret 
By many a field and fallow, 

And many a fairy foreland set 
With willow-weed and mallow. 

I chatter, chatter, as I flow 
To join the brimming river. 

For men may come and men may go, 

But I go on for ever. 

I steal by lawns and grassy plots, 

I slide by hazel covers; 

I move the sweet forget-me-nots 
That grow for happy lovers. 

I slip, I slide, I gloom, I glance. 

Among my skimming swallows; 

I make the netted sunbeam dance 
Against my sandy shallows. 

I murmur under moon and stars 
In brambly wildernesses; 

I linger by my shingly bars; 

I loiter round my cresses. 

And out again I curve and flow 
To join the brimming river. 

For men may come and men may go. 

But I go on for ever. 

— Alfred Tennyson, 
27 


HOW WATER IS USED IN FIGHTING FIRES 

1. The Fire-Engines 

Did you ever see a fire? How was it put out? 

To put out a fire there must be plenty of water 
because the water smothers the fire by drowning. 
The water must also be thrown with force or pressure, 
so that it will reach the roofs of dwelling houses and 
high buildings. 

This is generally done by means of the fire-engine. 
The fire-engine is a strong force-pump driven by steam. 



It is set up on wheels so that it can be taken wherever 
there is a fire. 


The firemen fasten one end of a hose to the engine 
and the other end to the fire-hydrant on the curb. 
Another hose is stretched from the engine to the burn- 
ing building. The engine is started pumping and the 
water is thrown on the flames. 

The largest fire-engines will pump eight or nine 
28 


hundred gallons a minute and will throw a stream of 
water over a building several stories high. 

The force of the water is made greater still in another 
way. As soon as a fire breaks out, the men at the 
pumping station begin to send water through the 
pipes very much faster. This gives the firemen a 
greater supply of water to work with. 

2. The High-Pressure Service 

The fire-engine does very well where the buildings 
are not too large and tall. When the very tall build- 
ings began to spring up in the cities, something better 
than the fire-engine had to be thought of. It was 
found that even the best of fire-engines could not 
pump enough water to master the great fires that 
occurred. So a high-pressure service was planned. 
High-pressure service supplies a great force of water 
without the aid of fire-engines. 

To give high-pressure service a great pumping 
station is built near a river, or lake, or reservoir. Large 
water pipes run from the pumping station under the 
streets to the center of the city where the high buildings 
are. These pipes are used for fire only and are separate 
from the other water pipes of the city. 

The pressure from the pumps is so great that a hose 
can be attached to a hydrant and turned on the flames 
at once without the help of a fire-engine. No engine is 
needed because the force of water is much greater than 
even the strongest fire-engine could give. 

The hign-pressure hose is made larger and stronger 
than the ordinary fire-hose to prevent it from bursting. 

29 


The force of water in it is often so great that it takes 
four or five firemen to hold the nozzle while they are 
throwing the water on the flames. 

Fighting fire is only one of the many ways in which 
water serves the city. 


QUESTIONS 

How does water put out fire? 

How did the people of Colonial days manage in case of fire? 

Can you tell something about the high-pressure system of 
fire fighting of to-day? 

What would happen if suddenly the water supply of your city 
should be shut off for twenty-four hours? 


WATER AND FIRE 

Water and Fire had a quarrel. 

Fire said, I am stronger than you.'' 

Water said, am stronger than you." 

''Let us try to prove it," they agreed. 

So Fire fell upon one of the dry forests of the earth 
and burned great tracts of woodland. 

Rain fell, but the fire grew. 

Its sparks reached a city and fell upon the roofs of 
some of the houses. Soon the houses were aflame. 

Rain fell, but the fire grew. 

Suddenly there came the clang of bells, and up the 
street dashed the fire-engines. Men threw great streams 
of water and put out the fire. 

When Water and Fire met. Water said to Fire, 
"I conquered; you see I am more powerful than you." 

Was Water right ? 


30 


UNDERGROUND WATERS 

Not all the water that falls on the earth flows into 
the rivers, or remains in the lakes, or goes back into 
the clouds. Much of it sinks into the earth and forms 
lakes and reservoirs in the caverns underground. Here 
nature stores it up for the use of man. 

In the Mammoth Cave of Kentucky, which is the 
largest cave in the world, there flows a deep under- 
ground stream, named the Echo River. On its surface 
boats are kept in which visitors may ride. In its dark 
waters are found blind Ashes which need no eyes since 
there is no light. 

All our springs and wells have their sources in these 
underground waters. It is said that three-fourths of 
the people in the United States obtain their water 
supply in this way. Usually it is necessary to sink a 
well either by hand digging or by boring in order to 
reach it. Often the water breaks through the surface 
of the ground and bubbles up in the form of a natural 
spring. 

These springs are sometimes found in very unusual 
places. The island of Moharek in the Persian Gulf 
gets its water from fresh springs that bubble up below 
the sea level. The water bursts through the sea bed 
with such force as to retain its freshness although sur- 
rounded by salt water. From this supply the natives 
fill their goat-skin water bottles. 

It has been estimated that there are eleven thousand 
cubic miles of underground waters in our country; 
enough to cover the United States to a depth of seven- 
teen feet if the water were all on the surface. 

31 


OUR DUTY IN REGARD TO THE WATER 
SUPPLY 

1. How TO Save Water 

We have seen how important a plentiful supply of 
water is to the comfort and happiness of our daily 
life. This plentiful supply is made possible only by 
the co-operation of all the officers and employes of the 



15 gallons per day 264 gallons per day 835 gallons per day 

105 gallons per week 1,848 gallons per week 5,845 gallons per week 
5,460 gallons per year 96,096 gallons per year 303,940 gallons per year 


Water Bureau, of the men who lay the water pipes 
and man the pumps, and of all the people of the city. 

The cost of furnishing all the water needed by a 
large city amounts to a very large sum, often to many 
millions of dollars. When this sum is divided among 
all the citizens, the tax 'which each pays is very small 
compared with the great comfort and convenience of 
running water for every household purpose. The cost 
would be still less if people were more careful not to 
waste the water. 


32 


It is so easy to allow the spigot to drip and the 
water to run to waste. If careless people waste water, 
the supply may run short and place the city in great 
danger, for when a fire breaks out the only thing that 
can save the city from burning is a plentiful supply of 
water. 

There are many ways of saving water, but the most 
important is for each one to use no more than is nec- 
essary, and to make sure that it is properly turned off 
and that the spigots do not leak. 

Another way of saving water is by using the water 
meter or water measure. By passing through the 
water meter, water can be measured just as gas and 
electricity have always been. The meter shows how 
many gallons of water are being used, and whether the 
water is being wasted either through a leak or by 
leaving the spigots open. 

The three leaking spigots in the picture show that 
even small leaks may mean a great loss. Just a steady 
drip, one drop at a time, amounts to fifteen gallons a 
day. 


2. How TO Read the Water Meter 

This is a picture of the counter of a 
water meter. 

It registers the number of cubic feet of 
water used. 

One cubic foot equals seven and one-half 
gallons. 

Let us study each circle separately. 

Let us begin with the circle niarked 

100,000. 





The little pointer shows how many ten thousand 
cubic feet of water have been used, because the 
space between each figure indicates 10,000 feet. 
(Of course when the pointer fully completes the 
circle, it will show that 100,000 cubic feet have 
been used.) 

In the next circle at the right the pointer shows 
how many thousand cubic feet have been used, 
because the space between each figure indicates 
1,000 feet. 



In the next circle the pointer shows how many 
hundred feet have been used, because the space 
between each figure indicates 100 feet. 


The next circle shows how many tens of cubic feet 
have been used, because the space between each 
figure indicates ten feet. 


The next circle shows how many units, because the 
space between each figure indicates one foot. 

Every time the pointer on the circle without figures 
goes around it means that one cubic foot of 
water has been used, but this circle is not used 
in reading the meter. 

With this explanation you can read the meter yourself, always 
remembering that if the little hand is pointing between two 
numbers, the lower or smaller number is used. 

If the pointer seems to indicate a number exactly do not use 
that number unless the pointer in the next circle has reached 0. 

For instance, in the ^‘10,000 circle the pointer seems to 

34 



indicate 7 exactly, but in looking at the ‘‘1,000 circle” you find 
that the pointer has not reached 0; so you will use the 6 instead 
of the 7. 

Filling out the following form, we find that this water meter 
counter reads: 96,872 cubic feet. 


Exrt.ANATION OF READING OF WaTER MeTER. 


Cl 

\O5Op 

/qOiN 


fSj® 1 J 

10 

The space between 
each figure on this 
dial indicates 

10,000 cubic feet. 

The space between 
each figure on this 
dial indicates 

1,000 cubic feet. 

The space between 
each figure on this 
dial indicates 

100 cubic feet. 

The space between 
each figure on this 
dial indicates 

10 cubic feet. 

The space between 
each figure on this 
dial indicates 

1 cubic foot. 

This dial reads: 

9 ten thousand 
cubic feet, or 
90,000 cu. ft. 

This dial reads: 

6 one thousand 
cubic feet, or 
6,000 cu. ft. 

This dial reads: 

8 one hundred 
cubic feet, or 
800 cu. ft. 

This dial reads: 

7 ten cubic feet, 
or 70 cu. ft. 

This dial reads: 

2 cu. ft. 


90,000 + 6,000 + 800 + 70 + 2 = 96,872 cu. ft. 


Rule — To find out how many gallons of water have been used, 
subtract the number of cubic feet in the last reading from the 
number of cubic feet in the present reading. Multiply the dif- 
ference by 73^. Since 73^ gallons equals 1 cubic foot, the result 
will be the number of gallons used between the two readings. 

If a meter suddenly shows an mcrease in consumption, with 
no apparent cause — one of two things has happened — a leak has 
started, or water has been allowed to run to waste. 

The existence of a leak may be proved by reading the meter 
at night, after all use of water has ceased, and again in the 
morning before any use begins; a difference between the readings 
is a measure of the leakage. 

How do you help other people by not wasting water? 

Do you know how much it costs your city a year to supply 
water? 


35 



ARTESIAN WELLS 

In some parts of the country water is very scarce, 
or perhaps the water in the lakes and rivers is very 
impure. What are the people to do then? Nature 
has provided an abundant supply in the underground 
waters. These are reached by means of artesian wells. 

First a test pipe two inches in diameter is driven into 
the earth by machinery. This is the search pipe. If 
water is found in this way a four inch, or even a much 
larger pipe, may be driven down. 

Sometimes when the pipe is freed from dirt, a fountain 
of water will gush up through the pipe into the air from 
the underground reservoir. Sometimes the water 
flows slowly and has to be pumped up. 

It may not be necessary to bore more than a hundred 
feet, but some artesian wells have to be sunk three and 
even four thousand feet deep before water is reached. 

Artesian water is usually much purer than lake or 
river water, and can be conducted to the reservoir or 
stand pipe and supplied direct to the users. Sometimes 
it contains particles of iron or mineral matter which 
are removed by filtering through sand. Generally the 
artesian water does not contain air enough to make 
it taste pleasant, and it must be aerated. This is done 
by forcing it through pipes with small holes in them. 
The water rises in a spray like a fountain and absorbs 
the air as it falls. 

When a greater supply of water is needed all that is 
necessary is to drive down another pipe into the 
underground reservoir. 


36 


WHERE WASTE WATER GOES 




If you look underneath the clean white 
enameled kitchen sink which so many 
houses now have, you will see a bend like 
the letter U, in the pipe. This bend is 
called a trap, because it catches or traps 
the last water that is poured down. This 
water remains in the trap and forms a 

[water-seal which pre- 
vents sewer gas and bad 


odors from coming back 
into the house. 

All the other pipes in 
the house which carry 
waste water off are 
trapped in the same way 
as the kitchen sink. 

Where does the waste 
water go? If you look 
in the cellar, you will see 
a large iron pipe which 
comes down through the 
ceiling and runs out 
through the wall or cel- 
lar floor. This is the 
house drain pipe which 
carries the waste water 
from the house into the 
main sewer pipe which 
runs under the street. 


37 


All the waste water pipes from the kitchen, laundry 
and bath room are connected with the house drain 
pipe which empties into the sewer. 

Before sewer pipes were laid, the waste water ran 
into the street gutters. These gutters were very 
dangerous to people^s health, because they were just 
the kind of places in which mosquitoes and the dread- 
ful disease germs of typhoid and malaria like to live. 

QUESTIONS 

I 

If each house had to find its own water supply and dispose of 
its own waste, do you think our people would have as good 
health as they now have? 

Where does the waste water of your city go? 

How does the fresh water supply help dispose of waste or 
sewage? 

Why is the disposal of waste as important as the supplying of 
good water? How does it affect health? 

Make a list of the ways in which we may prevent the waste of 
water. 


II 

Do you think it right that people should be limited as to the 
amount of water that they use? 

When water is so plentiful, why do we have to pay for it ? 
Why do we have water meters ? 

Why are most towns and cities on rivers, lakes or bays? How 
do the bodies of water serve the cities? 

See what you can find out about the first water pipes laid in 
your city- 

How do the men who lay the pipes and attend to the pumping 
engines help you and your family? 

38 


WHITE COAL 

We have seen that water has many uses. As a liquid 
it becomes rain and washes the earth. As a powder it 
becomes snow and covers the fields and forests with a 
white coat. As a solid it forms ice and preserves our 
food. As a vapor it becomes steam and drives our 
steam engines and machinery. 

But have you ever heard that water can be used in 
place of coal? It can and often is, and when so used 
it may be called white coal. 

Black coal, as everyone knows, comes from mines in 
the earth. It can be made to run railroad engines, 
drive the machines in our mills and factories and pro- 
duce electricity for light and power. 

Water, like coal, can be made to do all these things. 
A stream of water rushing down the mountain side or 
pouring over a dam or waterfall can be made to turn 
great water wheels. These water wheels can be used 
to drive the machinery of mills and factories. They 
can be made to generate electricity which will pull 
railroad trains and street cars and light cities. 

In all parts of the United States there are many 
mountain streams and swift-flowing rivers that can 
be made to supply power for all kinds of machinery. 
At present much of this power is going to waste, because 
we have not learned to use it. It is estimated that 
the water power of the United States amounts to 
30,000,000 horse power — more than enough to operate 
every mill, electric plant and railway in the country. 

More and more we are learning to use white coal to 
save black coal. IsnT this a splendid saving? Why? 

39 





The Elephant Butte Dam, and Niagara Falls. 


WATER AS USED. FOR INDUSTRIAL POWER 
Niagara Falls 

These falls are nearly three-quarters of a mile wide, 
and over 150 feet in height. 

Waterfalls have long been used for turning the 
wheels of machinery for manufacturing purposes. At 
the city of Niagara Falls, New York, a portion of the 
tremendous water power of these great falls is used to 
generate electrical current having over 300,000 horse 
power. Part of this is used in running street cars and 
factories and for lighting the city. The remainder is 
carried to Buffalo and other cities. 

In order to use the water power of Niagara the water 
has to be led away in canals from the river above, 
which lessens the amount of water going over the 
Falls. Therefore the government has restricted the 
amount of water to be used for such purposes, and 
the Falls are preserved in their wonderful beauty. 

WATER AS USED FOR IRRIGATION 
The Elephant Butte Dam 

This dam extends across the Rio Grande River at 
Elephant Butte, New Mexico, 110 miles north of 
El Paso, Texas. It was completed in 1913 and meas- 
ures 1250 feet at the top, and is 318 feet in height. 
The water in the reservoir formed by this dam is 
sufficient to cover more than 2,500,000 acres of land 
to a depth of one foot. From this great supply the 
farmers can water their growing crops. 

41 


WATER AS USED FOR NAVIGATION AND 
COMMERCE 

The Panama Canal 

The great Panama Canal extends from the Atlantic 
Ocean to the Pacific Ocean across the Isthmus of 
Panama. It cost nearly four hundred million dollars, 
and nine years were required to complete the work. 

The first ocean-going vessel passed through the 
Panama Canal in June, 1914. 

The distance from the Carribean Sea to the Pacific 
Ocean is nearly 44 miles, and it takes a ship about 
ten hours to make the trip. Before the canal was 
built vessels sailing from New York to San Francisco 
had to go around South America by way of stormy 
and dangerous Cape Horn. Steaming at the rate of 
300 miles a day the voyage took from forty-one to 
forty-five days. Now, these same vessels make the 
trip to San FYancisco through the canal in sixteen to 
twenty days, steaming at the same rate of speed. 





GAS 

Every seven householders shall unite to pay the 
expense of burning a candle in a lantern suspended on 
a pole from the window of every seventh house on 
nights when there is no moon /' — The First Street 
Lighting Law passed in New York, in 1697, 


43 

















THE TWO GREAT LIGHTS 

In the beginning God created the heaven and the 
earth. 

And the earth was without form, and void; and 
darkness was upon the face of the deep. And the 
Spirit of God moved upon the face of the waters. 

And God said, Let there be light: and there was 
light. 

And God saw the light, that it was good: and God 
divided the light from the darkness. 

And God called the light Day, and the darkness he 
called Night. 


And God said. Let there be lights in the firmament 
of the heaven to divide the day from the night; and 
let them be for signs, and for seasons, and for days, 
and years: 

And let them be for lights in the firmament of the 
heaven to give light upon the earth: and it was so. 

And God made two great lights; the greater light 
to rule the day, and the lesser light to rule the night: 
he made the stars also. 

And God set them in the firmament of the heaven to 
give light upon the earth, and to rule over the day and 
over the night, and to divide the ’ light from the 
darkness: and God saw that it was good. 


45 


LIGHTING IN COLONIAL DAYS 


1. Early Lamplighters 

In early Colonial times the streets of the cities were 
not brilliantly lighted as they are today. When the 
people of New York, Boston, or Philadelphia went 
about the streets after dark they carried their lanterns 
with them. Sometimes torches were 
used. These torches were made of twigs 
of pine wood tied together and fastened 
to a tall pole. 

In his autobiography, Benjamin Frank- 
lin tells about the first street lights of 
Philadelphia. He says: 

'Ht was by a private person, the late 
Mr. John Clifton, giving a sample of the 
utility of lamps, by placing one at his 
door, that the people were first im- 
pressed with the idea of lighting all the 
city. The honor of this public benefit has also been 
ascribed to me, but it belongs truly to that gentle- 
man, I did but follow his example.'' 

When the other citizens of Philadelphia saw the 
lamps at the front doors of John Clifton and Benjamin 
Franklin they too placed lamps at the front doors of 
their houses. In this way it was not long before the 
streets were lighted, and thereby made safer for people 
who were out of doors at night. 

Very soon after this, in the year 1762, public street 
lamp posts of wood were erected in New York. These 
posts held lamps which burned oil, and oil lamps were 
46 




continued in use in New York up to the year 1823 
when gas lighting was first introduced. 

It is interesting to read about the early lamplighters 
who tended the oil lamps. Each morning the lamp- 
lighters went about carrying a small 
ladder, a can of oil, scissors, and a 
supply of wicks. Mounting the 
ladder, the lamplighter blew out the 
lamp and trimmed it for the next 
night^s service. At dusk he made 
his rounds again and lighted the 
lamps by means of a torch. 

2. Indoor Lighting 

When darkness came on in the 
Colonial home the housewife lighted 
either an oil lamp or a candle. 

There were no bright kerosene oil 
lamps such as we have today. 

The kerosene lamp did not come 
into use until just before the 
Civil War. 

The Colonial oil lamp was a small 
earthen-ware cup filled with animal or vegetable oil, 
in which a wick of fiax or oakum was used. At its 
best it gave little light and required constant attention 
to keep it from smoking. 

The candles were made of tallow or spermaceti. 
These needed repeated snuffing and would often run 
and drip. Large rooms, halls, and churches were 
frequently lighted by chandeliers which held a great 
47 



number of candles. These would* sometimes run and 
drip on the dresses of the ladies who happened to be 
sitting underneath. 

Such were some of the inconveniences that the 
Colonial housewives of Martha Wash- 
ington's day had to endure. 

3. The First Gas Light 
Gas lighting was first introduced in 
America about a hundred years ago. 
Indeed, there are many people now 
living who can remember when gas 
came into general 
use for lighting 
homes. In the year 
1792 Thomas Mur- 
dock first illumi- 
nated his house in 
England with gas. 
It was almost 
twenty years later 
that the street 
lamps of London 
were lighted with 

gas. It was still later that gas came into general use 
for street lighting in New York, Philadelphia, and other 
American cities. At first people were terribly afraid 
of the new light, and it required many years to over- 
come their fears. 

One of the first great structures to be lighted by gas 
was Westminster Bridge in London. This was in 
48 



1813. It is said that great crowds gathered nightly to 
watch the burning gas jets. The people thought that 
the gas pipes were filled with fire, and that the jets 
were openings through which the flames in the pipes 
escaped. It was difficult to remove this belief from 
their minds. They sometimes touched the pipes, 
expecting to find them hot. At first, when the pipes 
were put into houses they were placed several feet 
from the walls lest they set fire to the building. 

4. Matches 

Can you imagine a house without matches? Every- 
one is familiar with the little splint of wood, with its 
red, blue or brown tip. Everyone knows that it will 
produce fire instantly, at any moment of the day or 
night. What other servant of man is so useful and so 
ready to serve as the ordinary friction match? 

In America alone, it is said, the demand for this 
useful article amounts to more than a billion a day. 
What would the world do for fire without matches? 
Yet in Colonial days, and for fifty years after the signing 
of the Declaration of Independence, matches were 
unknown in America. The only reliable method of 
getting fire was by means of a tinder box and flint and 
steel. Then a new way was discovered. John Walker, 
an English chemist, invented the friction match, a 
match which would light easily when scratched on a 
rough surface. This was in 1827, about the time that 
illuminating gas was coming into use. Very soon people 
threw away their tinder boxes and matches became 
popular all over the civilized world. 

49 


5 


THE HOUSE SUPPLY OF GAS 

‘'IPs getting dark, George; light the gas, please,'' 
said Mrs. Hunter, who was preparing the evening 
meal over the gas range. 

George took a match from the box, struck it on the 
side, reached up to the gas jet, held the lighted match 
to the tip, and turned the key. Suddenly the flame 
blazed up and the dark room was flooded with light. 

George had done the same thing many times before, 
but nevertheless the bright flame startled him. For 
the first time in his eleven years of life it seemed to 
him that he really saw a gas light. 

What was the wonderful thing called gas? When he 
had turned the key he saw nothing come out of the 
tip, yet something did come out instantly and catch 
fire and blaze up into a bright steady flame. What was 
this mysterious thing? George had never thought of 
it before and he determined to find out. 

All his life there had been gas in the house, just as 
there had been water. When he was thirsty he turned 
the tap and water flowed out. When it was dark he 
turned on the gas, held a match, and there was light. 
Water was water and gas was gas — that was all he 
knew. But now George began to think about it, and 
when he began to think he knew he would find out. 

George was like the Scotch boy, James Watt — all 
curiosity. Just as the steaming tea kettle fascinated 
James Watt, so the gas light fascinated George Hunter. 
The Scotch boy would watch the water in the tea 
kettle boil, then he would hold a spoon over the spout 
50 


and watch the steam condense into water again; 
then he would catch the drops as they fell into a cup. 
He wondered what made the water boil and turn into 
steam and then turn back into water again. He kept 
on wondering until he became a man and invented 
the steam engine. 

George Hunter was like that. He wanted to know 
where the gas light came from, and determined to 
find out. He said nothing to anybody about his 
determination, but went on a still hunt. 

II 

With his eye George followed the gas pipe and saw 
that it disappeared into the ceiling plaster. Then he 
explored every room in the house, downstairs and up. 
Every room had one or more gas lights, and the pipe 
from each led into the ceiling or into the side walls. 

Each opening was concealed by a neat collar which 
prevented his tracing the pipe farther. 

Returning to the kitchen, where his mother was still 
busy cooking on the gas range, George glanced at the 
gas range supply pipe. It disappeared through the 
fioor into the cellar. 

Going into the cellar, he lit the gas and found the 
pipe which came from the range. Tracing this back 
he saw that it ran to a larger pipe about an inch across. 
He was surprised to see a lot of smaller pipes coming 
through the fioor and connecting with the main pipe. 
He counted seven. 

''They must lead up to the rooms above,'' said 
George to himself. 


51 


Following the larger pipe to the front of the cellar, 
George found it led into a large Japanned tin box 
fastened to the wall. The box had little clock-like 
faces set in the front. 


'"This is the meter,'' said George. He knew that a 
man came every month to read the meter, but he had 



On the other side of the meter a pipe ran out. Fol- 
lowing this with his hand George saw that it entered 
the cellar wall below the level of the ground out- 
side. 

'Ht's like a rabbit track," said George to himself. 
'Ht runs into a hole in the ground. To-morrow I'll dig 
it out." 

^'Mother," asked George, when they were seated 
52 


around the brightly lighted table that evening, ^'what 
did people do for light before they had gas?'' 

''Why, they burned lamps and candles," replied 
Mrs. Hunter. 

"What did they do before they had lamps and 
candles?" 

Mrs. Hunter laughed. " Why, they went to bed with 
the birds and chickens." 

George laughed too, and asked no more questions. 

Before getting into bed that night he turned out 
the light, drew up the cmtain, and looked out of his 
bedroom window. The house was on a hill over- 
looking the city. Hundreds of lights were shining on 
the streets and in the windows of the houses, lighting 
up the darkness. 

"What a lot of lights, and what a lot of gas it must 
take on a dark night," said George to himself. "I 
never thought of it before. The world must have 
been an awful dark place before people found out 
about gas." 

QUESTIONS 

It seems strange that men did not discover how to make and 
use coal gas before they did, does it not? 

Do you suppose there are other servants of man waiting to be 
used? 


Diligence is the mother of good luck, and God gives 
all things to industry. — Franklin, 

Everything good may be better, and every better 
may be best. 


53 


THE SERVICE PIPE 

The next day after school George saw two men work- 
ing in a deep hole they had dug in front of a new 
house that was being built on his street. 

George stopped and looked in. One man was 
boring a hole in a big iron pipe and the other man was 
holding a smaller pipe ready to put into the opening. 

'"What pipe is thatV* inquired George. 

^'That's the gas main/' replied one of the men. 

^'What are you doing?" asked George. 

''We are tapping the main/' said the man good- 
naturedly. 

"Where does the gas main run to?" queried the 
eager boy, who realized that he was on the scent of the 
rabbit hole. 

"Well, son," replied the man, "if you could crawl 
along through that pipe alive you would come out at 
the gas works.' 

George knew the gas works were in the lower part 
of the city near the river. He had often seen them but 
had never paid any attention to them. Now he made 
up his mind to see them for himself the first chance 
he had. 

"Where does the pipe in your hand lead to?" he 
asked. 

"It connects up with the meter in the cellar. It 
is called the service pipe." 

Now George felt as if he had made a real discovery, 
as indeed he had. 

"Can I go in and see the meter?" asked George. 

54 


''Certainly, go ahead; but be careful and do not 
touch it,'' said the man, who was getting rather tired 
of answering curious questions. 

George watched the men work until the hole was 
bored and the house pipe deftly inserted. Then he 
went into the house. 

The boy gave a cry of surprise and delight as he 
entered. The walls were bare of plaster so that he 
could see exactly what was inside of them. 

In the living room a small pipe ran up the wall to the 
ceiling and then turned at a right angle and ran between 
the beams to the center of the ceiling. The dining 
room was piped in the same manner and also the 
kitchen. He went quickly down the cellar steps to 
see the meter. 

"Hello, George! What brings you here?" said a 
voice from the front of the cellar. 

"How do you do, Mr. Brown?" said George, rec- 
ognizing Mr. Brown, who had a plumbing shop in the 
next street. "I wanted to see the gas meter. The 
men outside said I might look at it." 

"Certainly," said Mr. Brown, "but be careful not 
to touch anything. We are going to test the gas 
pipes for leaks." 

"May I stay and see you do it?" asked George. 

"Certainly, my boy," said Mr. Brown, who liked 
George and was pleased at his interest. 

"I want to see how the pipes run to the jets," said 
George. 

Mr. Brown showed him the main pipes and the 
branches that ran through the floor and upstairs. 

55 


Then he went with him into each room and showed 
him how the outlets were placed so as to have the 
light in the most convenient spot. Mr. Brown was 
a workman who was proud of a good job and liked to 
explain it to any one who was interested. 

''It cannot be an easy job to set every jet just 
right/' said George. 

"No, we have to be very careful that the piping is 
good and that the joints are tight, because a gas leak 
is a dangerous thing. Escaping gas is very poisonous. 
Now we are ready to test the pipes." 

George watched very carefully while Mr. Brown 
and his helper attached the air pressure gauge to an 
outlet in the cellar. This was a glass gauge with 
mercury in it to show the air pressure in the pipes. 
Soon Mr. Brown began to force air into the pipes, using 
the air pump attached to another outlet. 

After he had filled the pipe system with air he 
remarked: "Now watch the mercury in the gauge. 
If it remains stationary there is no leak. If it falls, 
the air is escaping through a leak somewhere." 

Eagerly George watched the mercury. "It doesn't 
move!" he cried, after a time. 

"Then the system is safe," said Mr. Brown. "Now 
the plasterers can go ahead and cover the walls and 
pipes." 


QUESTIONS 

Why did the plumber test the pipes so carefully? 

Why is the pipe entering the hotise called the service pipe? 
Name other uses of gas besides lighting. 

56 


A VISIT TO THE GAS WORKS 
I 

One day George went to the lower part of the city 
along the river front to see the gas works. He did not 
tell even his mother where he was going and he went 
alone. His idea was to walk around the outside and 
look at the works. 

Although he knew where the big gas tanks were, he 
had really never seen them because he had paid no 
attention to them. First he saw three great circular 
tanks — small, middle-sized, and large — rising one 
story, two stories, three stories in height. They 
filled nearly a whole city square and there was a high 
fence around them. 

In the next square was the gas plant itself as shown 
by the great clouds of smoke through which could be 
seen a tall chimney and iron bridge work. Around 
the plant also was a high fence, in which was a wide 
gate, guarded by a watchman. Peering through the 
gateway George saw enormous piles of coal and coke, 
and many small buildings. 

Hello, George, are you looking for someone?’^ 
asked a pleasant voice behind him. 

Turning quickly, he saw Mr. Drake, a neighbor 
who lived across the street. He knew that Mr. Drake 
was employed at the gas works, but he did not know 
that he was the manager. 

"'How do you do, Mr. Drake? No, I am not looking 
for anyone. I am trying to find out how gas is made,'' 
replied George seriously. 


57 


Mr. Drake laughed. ''Well, you have certainly 
come to the right place to learn.'' 

Encouraged by Mr. Drake's interested manner, 
George eagerly told him of his search. 

"Well done, George," said Mr. Drake. "That is 
the way to find out things. I like that. Come with 
me and I will show you just how we make the very 
gas which your family uses in your house." 

As he walked past the watchman through the gate 
George felt like Christopher Columbus discovering 
America. 

"Wait here a few minutes, and I shall be at liberty," 
said Mr. Drake, stepping into his office. In a short 
time he returned. 

II 

"Now then, we are ready to begin at the begin- 
ning," he said. "See that pile of coal; that is 
bituminous coal from which we make coal gas." He 
pointed to a little mountain of coal as high as a four 
story house. 

"Where does the coal get its gas from?" asked 
George. 

"Well, George," said Mr. Drake, "that is going a 
step farther back than we go here, but it is a good 
question. Your teacher will tell you that all light 
and heat come from the sun, and that coal is stored-up 
sunshine. You can read in books how the sun makes 
the coal. Now, here are the coke ovens, or retorts. 
There are fifty in that bank," he explained. 

George saw a huge bank of ovens about a hundred 
58 


feet long and about fifteen feet high. A red fire glowed 
under each oven. 

'‘The coal is first ground, and then put into the 
oven and sealed up. We do not set fire to it. The 
fire is underneath the oven. When the fires are 
started, the soft coal in the ovens becomes red hot and 
begins to give off coal gas.'' 

"Where does the gas go?" asked George. 

"Well, you have seen coal burn in stoves. The 



blue flames and gases escape up the chimney. Instead 
of letting them escape we catch them." 

"How big are the ovens?" 

"Ours are about thirty feet long and six feet high 
and seventeen inches wide. Each is charged with 
seven or more tons of coal. Now watch; here is an 
oven going to be emptied." 

George saw the grimy oven men open the oven door. 
At once the red hot coke began to tumble out. 

"All the gas is burned off that coal, and what we 


59 



have left is coke/^ said Mr. Drake. '^Coke is coal with 
all the gases burned out. That is why coke, when 
burned, does not give off gas as coal does.'’ 

''What becomes of the gas?" asked George. 

"After being purified it is measured and then forced 
into the gas holders, which are the large circular tanks 
you see over there." 

"How does it get from the tanks into the houses?" 
asked George. 

"Through the gas main. There is an enormous pipe 
leading from the tank down underground below the 
principal streets. Branch mains lead off from it up the 
cross streets, until there is a gas main under every 
street in the city or district. These mains are tapped 
for each house, just as you saw in the new house in 
our street." 

"Why, they spread out like the roots of a big tree," 
said George. 

"That is it exactly," replied Mr. Drake. 

"And the ends of the little roots come out into the 
rooms of the houses," added George. 

"That is right; you have the idea." 

"And you can put a match to the tip of every root 
and get a light out of it," finished George. 

"Good for you, George. Now you have traced the 
gas all the way home and back again." 

George thanked Mr. Drake and hurried away full 
of his newly-found discoveries. 

Mr. Drake went back to his office thinking that some 
day there would be a good opening for just such a 
boy as George in the gas works. 

60 


GEORGE LEARNS HOW TO MAKE AN 
EXPERIMENT 

Seeing Mr. Drake seated on his porch one evening, 
George went over to talk with him. '"Well, what do 
you think of gas making now?'' asked Mr. Drake, 
think it is wonderful," replied the boy. 

After they had talked awhile, Mr. Drake said, 

George, do you happen to have a clay pipe?" 

^'Yes, I have one that I used to blow soap bubbles 
with," replied George. 

^^Good; go get it, and I will show you a little experi- 
ment. Bring about a spoonful of damp earth, too, 
the more like clay the better." 

In a minute George returned with the clay pipe and 
a small handful of earth. 

^'That will do nicely," said Mr. Drake, taking the 
pipe and blowing through it to see if the stem was 
clear. '"Now we will go into the kitchen and try to 
make some real gas." 

Mr. Drake selected from the hod a piece of soft coal 
about the size of a hazel nut and handed it to George. 
'"Put that in the bowl of the pipe," he said. 

George did so. 

^'Now moisten a little of the earth and make it as 
near like clay as possible, and then seal up the coal in 
the pipe, making the damp earth level with the top of the 
pipe. Clay would make a better seal, but this will do." 

^'Now we have a gas retort," he added, after George 
had carried out his directions. ''As soon as we apply 
heat we shall have real gas." 

61 


They arranged a stiff wire in such a way that the 
pipe would be suspended directly over the flame of a 
gas jet. 

'^^en the pipe was in position over the jet Mr. 
Drake said, ^'Now you may light the gas and see 
what happens.^’ 

George applied a match and the flame sprang up 
about the bowl. 

''Of course we could put the bowl of the pipe into a 



hot coal fire, but the gas jet is handier,'’ remarked 
Mr. Drake. 

"Another way to make this experiment," he con- 
tinued, "is to put the coal in a glass test tube and seal 
it with a cork through which a glass pipe is inserted 
to carry off the gas. It is a prettier experiment because 
you can see just what goes on inside the tube, but a 
clay pipe answers the purpose." 

By this time a little wreath of vapor began to curl 
out of the stem of the pipe. 

"Look," cried George excitedly, "the gas is 
escaping!" 


62 


"'That is mostly steam/’ replied Mr. Drake, almost 
as excited as George himself. ""Watch for the smoke!” 

In a minute a light smoke began to pour out of the 
stem in a little cloud. Suddenly, it grew darker in color. 

""Now strike a match and light the gas, George,” 
said Mr. Drake. 

The boy held the lighted match to the end of the 
pipe stem. At first a little light flashed up, then 
sputtered and went out. He held the match nearer. 
The gas caught again, and blazed into a flame about 
as large around as a lead pencil. 

The little blue flame burned steadily for several 
minutes, then grew smaller and went out. 

""That flame comes from exactly the same kind of 
gas as the flame underneath the bowl,” said Mr. 
Drake, turning off the gas jet. ""The only difference 
is that the household gas has been purified. All the 
impurities contained in such smoke as came from the 
pipe stem have been washed and Altered out.” 

He then lifted the little gas retort from the wire and 
handed it to George. 

""If you will open the pipe when it is cold,” he added, 
""you will And a lump of coke inside. Coke is almost 
pure carbon. It will bum bright red with little smoke 
or gas because the smoke and gas have already been 
burned out of it.” 

""Thank you, Mr. Drake,” said George. ""This is 
another time that I went hunting and found out 
something.” 

""That is right, my boy; finding out things is the 
best hunting in the world.” 

63 


NATURAL GAS 


In many parts of the United States and Canada the 
gas used for heating, lighting and cooking is found in a 
natural state. This gas is not manufactured from coal, 
but comes directly out of the ground, and is therefore 
called natural gas. 

History tells us that the first white men who crossed 
the Alleghany Mountains were taken by the Indians 
to places where gas was escaping from crevices in the 
rocks. The Indians held it in great awe, because when 
they applied fire it burst into flames. 

Natural gas occurs in parts of the country where 
petroleum is found. In the United States the principal 
sources are West Virginia, Pennsylvania, Oklahoma, 
Ohio, Louisiana, Kansas, California, Texas and New 
York; and in Canada, Ontario and Alberta. It is 
obtained by boring wells, very much in the same 
manner as petroleum, and carried by pipe lines to 
nearby and distant towns and cities. Some of the 
wells are only a few hundred feet deep, while others go 
to a depth of over three thousand feet. 

Natural gas is very similar to gas made from coal 
and produces about the same amount of heat, but does 
not give as good light. In the United States there are 
over two million domestic consumers. These use only 
one third of the amount produced; the remainder goes 
to mills, factories and other manufacturing plants. For 
many years this free gift of nature was neglected. 
Even today much of it is allowed to escape and go 
to waste. How can this waste be stopped? 

64 


THE METER READER 


I 



A few mornings after his visit to the gas plant, 
George was up earlier than usual. There came a tap 
on the door. 

''See who that is, George,'’ said his mother, who was 
getting breakfast. 

George unlocked the 
door. There stood an 
alert young man in a 
blue uniform with a book 
in his hand. 

"Good-morning. I 
want to read the gas 
meter," said the young 
man. 

"Good-morning," said 
George. "Come in." 

The meter reader fol- 
lowed George to the 
front of the cellar, opened 
his book, put down the number of the meter, and 
then looked at the clock faces. 

"68900 cubic feet," he read, while George watched 
him with interest. 

" How many feet of gas have we used in the month? " 
asked George. 

"Let me see. One month ago the meter registered 
66400. Subtracting this from 68900 leaves 2500 cubic 
feet burned during the month." 


you show me how to read it myself? asked 

George. 

^"Certainly/' replied the meter man. '"Most people 
do not care anything about a meter except to make a 
complaint when the bill seems large.’^ 

'"Do you ever make a mistake?'' asked George. 

'"Very seldom. If the meter measures the gas 
correctly there is no room for mistakes. All we have 
to do is to copy the figures accurately." 

"Do the meters ever get out of order?" 

"Very rarely. When there is any sign of that we 
test them. If each family would read its own meter 
and keep the record from month to month there 
would be fewer complaints." 

" I think I should like to do that, " said George. 

"It's not hard to learn. All it requires is a little 
attention. Now I'll show you just how it is done," 
said the young man. 

The boy listened attentively and found the reading 
of a meter much easier than he had expected. 


II 


Directions for Reading the Meter as Given to George 
BY THE Meter Reader 






10 thousand 

October 1 Meter 


1 thousand 


Three circles are used in reading the family meter. 

Each space on the right hand circle measures 100 cubic feet; 
each space on the center circle measures 1000 cubic feet, and 
each space on the left hand circle measures 10,000 cubic feet. 

To read the meter begin at the left hand circle and set down 
the lowest figure next to the pointer on each circle. Note that 
the pointers of the right and left hand circles move in the same 
direction as the hands of a clock. The center circle moves in 
the opposite direction as shown by the figures on the clock face. 

For example, the October 1st meter in the sketch reads: 

60,000 +8000 +900 = 68,900 

The September 1st meter reads : 

60,000 +6000 +400 = 66,400 


2,500 cubic feet 

Subtracting we have 2,500 cubic feet, which is the amount of 
gas used between the two dates. 

Rule: The difference between today’s reading and the last 
reading equals the cubic feet of gas used between the two dates. 

Note. — The small circle at the top on the face of the meter 
measures one cubic foot of gas. This circle is used to show if 
there is a leak. Close all the outlets in the house. If the hand 
does not move while the outlets are closed, there is no leak, or at 
least not one large enough to make the meter register. 

If the price of gas were $1.00 per 1000 cubic feet, what would 
be the bill for the month as shown by the above meter readings? 

If the price were 80 cents, what would be the amount. 

67 


THE DANGEROUS COIN METER 

This is sometimes called the slot meter. Still 
another name is the prepayment meter. 

As soon as a coin is dropped into the box, the gas 
begins to flow into the house pipes. When the amount 
paid for is used, the meter shuts off the gas until 

another payment is 
made. 

If the meter turned 
off the gas at the jets 
when it stopped serving, 
there would be little 
danger. But it does not 
do this. The jets in use 
remain open unless 
some one thinks to turn 
them off. Few things 
could be more danger- 
ous, as the following 
little story shows. 

A slot meter ran out 
in an apartment after the household had gone to bed. 
A lady visiting the family went to sleep with the light 
burning. Of course, when the meter ran out the light 
went out and the burner in her room remained open. 

In the early morning one of the men of the family, 
on rising, put a coin in the meter and shortly after- 
wards left the house for his work. As soon as the 
meter was started, gas began to escape through the 
open burner and soon filled the visitor's bedroom. 

68 



When the household was aroused by the odor of 
escaping gas, the victim was found unconscious. 
She was quickly removed to the hospital, but died a 
few hours later. 


CARE IN THE USE OF GAS 

If a few simple rules are observed, gas may be used 
in the home with safety and economy. To neglect 
these rules is dangerous. The most important are: 

Be sure that all burners not in use are shut off. 

Don't let your gas range be set too close to a wooden 
wall or partition. 

Don't use the space between the range and the wall 
as a place to store brooms, clothes, or anything that 
will catch fire. 

Don't hang clothes over a gas range to dry. 

Don't let the flames blaze up around the outside of 
a vessel or pot. Turn the flame down to the proper 
height and save money. 

Don't fail to turn off and relight a burner which 
has flashed back. This is shown by a roaring sound and 
a yellow flame. 

Don't fill your oven with gas and apply a match or 
light. Gas will explode under such conditions. 

Don't forget to open the oven door before lighting 
the oven burners. 

Don't turn on the gas until you have a match 
ready. 

Don't leave the gas turned on while looking for 
another match. 


69 


Don^t turn off the pilot light before the oven burners 
are lighted. 

Don't turn the burners too low. 

Don't sleep in a room with burning gas turned low. 
It may go out. 

Don't hang window curtains where they can be 
blown over the gas jet and set on fire. 

Don't use an open gas fiame for light if you can 
help it; use a gas mantle and save money. 

Never search for a gas leak with a candle or match. 
If the leak is in your home open windows and doors 
until help arrives. If the leak is in the street or out- 
side call the nearest policeman's attention to it. 

QUESTIONS 

What kind of fuel is used for cooking in your home? 

What kind of light is used? 

Have you ever used a gas heater? 

Can you draw a picture of the pipes which lead the gas through 
a house? 

Where does the gas come from? 

What did our great great grandparents use for lighting, and 
for cooking? 

How many people can you name who serve in bringing gas 
into the houses of our city? 

Draw a sketch of the great network of pipes leading water 
and gas along one city street. 

Why is it dangerous to use an open gas light? Why is it 
wasteful? 

Why is it best to use a gas mantle? 

Should a slot meter be used to supply burners located in 
bedrooms? 

If you were building a house, what kind of meter would you 
prefer to put in it? 


70 


THE GAS RANGE 


Before the days of coal, wood was the common fuel 
used in the household for heating and cooking. The 
old-fashioned open fireplace with its wide chimney 
and blazing wood fire not only heated the house, but 
did most of the family cooking as well. An iron crane 
was hinged at the back of the chimney, and from this 
the pots and kettles were hung over the fire by means of 
iron hooks and chains. 

Coal began to be brought into the cities from the 
mines of Pennsylvania about the year 1820. Gradually 
people learned to use the new fuel in their kitchens, 
and in time the fireplace was abandoned for the coal 
range. 

While the coal range is still widely used, and no doubt 
will continue to be for some time to come, the most 
popular method of cooking today is by gas fuel. Of 
course gas is not obtainable in many places, but where 
it can be had housekeepers are coming more and more 
to recognize its advantages. 

If properly handled gas is less expensive than coal, 
although few things can be wasted more easily. If 
turned on only when needed and turned off at once 
after being used, there is no waste to pay for. If the 
user forgets and leaves the gas burning, the meter does 
not forget and the wasted gas is charged for in the bill. 

The gas range is a ready and willing servant, and as 
a means of labor saving is almost as much superior to 
the coal range as the coal range was to the fireplace of 
our great grandmothers. 


71 

















ELECTRICITY 

Electricity is a wonderful gift of nature which we 
are just learning to use. It gives us light, heat, and 
power; and every day we are finding out new ways of 
using this marvelous gift. 





y' ^ 

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FRANKLIN^S KITE 


1. Electricity and Lightning 


Did you ever stop to think how 
many wonderful servants we have to- 
day that were unknown or unused 
when Benjamin Franklin lived? 

Among them are gas, coal, petroleum 
and electricity. Perhaps the most 
wonderful of all and the most mys- 
terious is electricity. In Franklin's day there were 
no electric lights to light the streets and houses, no 
telegraph and telephone to send messages, and no 
electric cars to carry the people from place to 
place. 

Before Franklin's day men knew little about 
electricity. They knew less about lightning. 
They did not even know that electricity and 
lightning were the same thing. Benjamin 
Franklin believed that they were and deter- 
mined to prove it. He knew from his 



experiments that electricity was attracted to a point. 
If a glass rod is rubbed sharply with a piece of silk the 
electricity caused by the friction will gather at the tip 
of the rod. This rod will pick up small pieces of dry 
paper in almost the way a magnet will pick up iron nails. 

Franklin also knew that tall chimneys, church 
steeples, and high buildings were often struck by 
lightning. He thought that if a metal rod were 
erected above the building, the point would attract 
the lightning and protect the building from harm. 
This led him to the invention of the lightning rod, 
which is used on many tall buildings today. Unfor- 
tunately for Franklin, at that time there were no tall 
chimneys, nor church steeples, nor high buildings in 
the city of Philadelphia where he lived. 

This however did not discourage Franklin. He 
believed that ''where there is a will there is a way,’' 
and so he made his famous kite. 

2. Flying the Kite 

Franklin thought that a kite, if flown in a thimder- 
storm, would be more likely to attract lightning than 
a tall chimney or a church steeple. He tied a sharp- 
pointed wire about a foot long to the top of his kite 
to draw^the lightning, and then waited for a thunder- 
storm. 

He did not have long to wait. One day in June, 
1752, a great thunderstorm arose. For fear of ridicule 
he said nothing to anyone about what he intended to 
do. Taking his little son, William, with him he went 
into the fields and stood under a cowshed. 


They managed to get the kite flying in the air 
before the rain began. A piece of silk ribbon was 
tied to the end of the string. Franklin held the silk 
ribbon in his hand. He used silk because it is a poor 
conductor of electricity. He did not dare hold the 
string for fear of receiving an electric charge in his 
body. A metal door key was fastened to the place 
where the ribbon and the string joined. The purpose 
of the key was to discharge into a Leyden jar the 
lightning which came down the string. The Leyden 
jar was the only form of storage battery then known. 

Soon the lightning began to play about the kite 
which was flying in the thunder clouds. Franklin 
touched his knuckle to the key but felt no shock. The 
lightning did not run down the string and out at the 
key as he had expected it would. 

Still the father and son waited. After a while the 
rain began to pour down, wetting the kite and the 
string thoroughly. 

Again Franklin touched his knuckle to the key. 
This time there was a slight shock and a spark. Imme- 
diately he held a small lamp to the tip of the key. 
The electric spark lighted the lamp and lYanklin knew 
that he was right. Electricity and lightning were the 
same. Quickly he held the Leyden jar to the key to 
charge it with electricity. When fully charged he 
had a jar stored with electricity which he could take 
home for experimenting. 

Benjamin Franklin was a very brave man and this 
was one of the bravest and most daring things he ever 
did. To find out the truth he risked the danger of 
77 


being struck by lightning and of losing his life. If 
anything had gone wrong he might have been electro- 
cuted, although the word was not then known. 

About this time a Russian professor named Richman, 
who had heard of Franklin’s experiments, tried to 
draw lightning from the clouds and succeeded only too 
well. He drew down an electric charge which killed 
him instantly on the roof of his house in Petrograd. 

Franklin’s discoveries made him famous as the 
father of modern electricity. In the following words 
Franklin tells — 

3. How THE Kite was Made 

"'Make a small cross of two light strips of cedar 
wood. These strips of wood should be long enough to 
reach to the four corners of a large thin silk handker- 
chief when extended. Fasten the corners of the 
handkerchief to the extremities of the crossed sticks 
so as to form the body of a kite. When the kite is 
properly fitted with a tail, loop, and string, it will rise 
in the air like those made of paper. This being made 
of silk is better able to bear the wet and wind of a 
thunder storm without tearing. 

'^To the top of the upright stick of the cross fasten 
a very sharp-pointed wire, rising a foot or more above 
the wood. To the end of the string next to the hand 
a silk ribbon is to be tied. Where the ribbon and 
twine join, a key may be fastened. 

'"This kite is to be fiown when a thunderstorm 
appears to be coming on, and the person who holds 
the string must stand within a door or window or under 
78 


some cover, so that the silk ribbon may not be wet. 
Care must be taken that the string does not touch the 
frame of the door or window. 

soon as any of the thunder clouds come over 
the kite the pointed wire will draw the electric fire 
from them, and the kite with all the string will be 
electrified. When the rain has wet the kite and 
string, so that they can conduct the electric fire freely, 
you will find it stream out plentifully from the key 
on the approach of your knuckle.’’— a letter written 
by Benjamin Franklin to Peter Collinson in 1752! 



When Lightning Strikes 


Have you ever seen a lightning rod ? Tell about it. 

Do you think a lightning rod would have saved this chimney ? 

79 [ 


SERVANTS OF MAN 
1. Early Inventions 

You remember that when Robinson Crusoe was 
cast up by the sea on the shore of his lonely island, 
his ship was wrecked and lost. All his possessions 
were gone, except some very few saved from the 
wreck. In that desolate spot he had to begin life 
over again with little to help him. What was he to do? 

At once he began to look about him. He began to 
use the materials he found on the island as servants 
to provide for his needs. He made them supply him 
with food, clothing, and shelter. The story of his 
efforts forms one of the most interesting books in 
print, ^^The Adventures of Robinson Crusoe.^' 

Our ancestors began life on this earth, which after all 
is only an island floating in space, very much as 
Crusoe did on his island. Only he was better off than 
they because he knew many things of which they were 
ignorant. For example, he knew how to start a Are 
and cook food, which they did not. He knew how to 
make and sail a boat, and many many other things 
of which they had not even dreamed. 

The story of the way in which our ancestors turned 
the things they foimd into servants to provide for 
their needs is even more fascinating than the adven- 
tures of Robinson Crusoe. One book will not hold 
all the story, nor will even a library. It is a con- 
tinued story going on from day to day, and no one 
knows when it will be finished. 

But it is worth while to get an idea of some of the 
80 



7 


Tell the Story of this Picture. 


■!<>v 






servants of our ancestors because most of them are 
still our servants to-day. These are a few of the 
things that our ancestors did. 

They made axes, hammers and arrow-heads of stone. 
They learned to rub two dry sticks together until the 
friction set them on fire. With their weapons of stone 
they slew dangerous animals and used their skins for 
clothing. They tamed and learned to ride the wild 
horse. A savage with an inventive mind noticed that 
a round stone would roll, and invented the wheel. 
Before that people carried all their burdens on their 
own backs or on the backs of animals. The wheel was 
a very great invention, one of the greatest discoveries 
of man. It lifted burdens from the shoulders and 
carried them on wheels. 

Later, metals were discovered, and sharper axes, 
knives, and other implements were made of bronze. 
Our ancestors learned to build bridges to carry them 
over streams dryshod. They found out how to make 
the water carry them on its surface, and how to make 
the wind fill their sails and drive them along. Today 
men are learning to make the air carry their ships 
more easily than the water does. 

After a time they began to find out how to make 
better tools and weapons of iron and steel. They 
began to cut down forests and till the open spaces. 
Instead of using caves and cliffs for dwellings they 
began to build houses. 

By and by they invented the art of writing and 
still later the art of printing. 

Coming down to our own time, men have turned 
82 



water into steam to drive railway trains and machinery. 
They have discovered coal and turned it into gas to 
light their houses. They have discovered coal oil 
from which comes the gasoline to drive our auto- 
mobiles and flying machines. 

All these and many more materials and forces of 
nature have been conquered and are now being used 
in the service of man, 

2. The Electric Giant 

Yet through all these centuries one great power of 
nature, the lightning, had defled man. Like an angry 
giant bellowing in the clouds, he would tear them 
asunder and shoot down his thunderbolt. This giant 
83 





never showed his power save to destroy some beautiful 
tree, some lofty church spire or tall chimney or fine 
building, or perchance a lone traveler caught in the 
storm. 

Men have always feared the lightning, hiding from 
it in caves and cellars. Even today the bravest 
hesitate, and rightly, to expose themselves to its fury. 

But this giant, the most powerful of all, has been 
conquered. He has become the obedient, useful ser- 
vant of man. Every day we find some new work fgr 
him to do, and we do not know even yet all the wonders 
he is capable of performing. 

Not so many years ago Franklin proved that the 
tiny electric spark and the giant flash of lightning are 
the same thing. Since then we have made this giant 
turn night into day. At our bidding he will provide 
light for one million or ten million electric lamps for 
our houses and city streets. 

We have asked him to carry our messages around 
the earth, and he does it in a fraction of a second. 
He will carry not only dots and dashes, but the words 
of the human voice, and that not only with wires, but 
even without. 

We have tamed him like the horse and harnessed 
him to our street railways, to our express trains, to our 
elevators and other machinery. 

All the time, while we have been afraid of him, he 
has been able and ready and willing to serve us. Now 
that we are learning to use him there seems to be no 
end to the things that he will do, this wonderful 
electric giant, in the service of man. 

84 


HOW ELECTRICITY IS CARRIED 
1. The Wires 

Electricity will travel easily through substances such 
as iron, copper, gold, silver, and all other metals, and 
through most liquids. These are called conductors of 
electricity. 

It will not travel through glass, china, rubber, dry 
air, silk or wool. These are called non-conductors. 
It will pass through a wet string, but not through a 
dry one. You remember that Franklin could get no 
electric spark from the kite string when it was dry. 
As soon as the storm arose and wet the string, the 
electric current flowed down it and gave a spark at 
the touch of Franklin's knuckle. 

When electricity is needed for work it is always 
carried along an iron or copper wire. By means of 
wires our houses are supplied with the telephone and 
electric light service. 

This is entirely different from the water and gas 
supply which comes in by means of pipes. The water 
is confined to the inside of the pipe and so is the gas, 
and in the same manner. Neither can escape except 
through a leak or at the outlet. There is no danger 
from the water or the gas so long as the pipes do not 
leak and are not left open at the outlets. 

2. Danger of Exposed Wires 

With the electric current the case is different. 
The current covers and charges the wire. If an exposed 
wire is touched by anyone, it means a severe shock and 
85 


perhaps sudden death. If touched by anything 
inflammable there is danger of Are. An uncovered 
wire is called a '"live wire/' and live wires are dangerous. 

For this reason the electric wires which are brought 
into our houses are covered or insulated. If you 
examine a small piece of electric light wire you will see 
that the wire is enclosed in a sheath. This sheath is 
made of material which will not conduct electricity. 
In this way the current is conflned to the wire and 
cannot escape unless the covering is broken. 

If you go into the cellar and examine the electric 
light wires you will see porcelain tubes passing through 
the joists and woodwork. Through these the wires 
are passed as a further protection. Not an inch of 
live wire is exposed anywhere in the walls or under the 
floors. The wires must be fully insulated and inspected, 
and a permit must be obtained before the current is 
turned on. 

If it were not for these precautions electricity could 
not be used with safety. If we become familiar with 
them it will help us not only to avoid shocks and burns 
to ourselves, but also to warn others of electrical 
dangers. Electricity, like Are, is a splendid servant 
but a dangerous master. 

QUESTIONS 

Which is the most easily handled — water, gas, or electricity? 

What makes you think so? 

Which of the three do we know most about? 

Which serves us best? 

Can you tell whether a fallen wire is “alive” or not by looking 
at it? 


86 


THE INCANDESCENT LAMP 
1. The Inventor 

One of our greatest public servants is Thomas A. 
Edison, the electrician and inventor. A good-sized 
library could be made out of the books which describe 
the wonderful inventions of this 
great man. 

When you listen to the phono- 
graph, or speak through a mega- 
phone, or see a moving picture, or 
turn on the light in the electric bulb 
— do you think who invented them? 

It was Thomas A. Edison, and these 
are only a few of the useful things 
which he has given to the world. 

But Edison was not always a great inventor. He 
began life as a poor boy and rose to be one of the 
most useful servants of the country by his own efforts. 
All that he had to help him was a strong healthy 
body, a good mind, and a great love for his work. 
His ambition seems to be to work harder than anyone 
else and to find out things that will be useful to his 
fellow men. 

One of Edison's favorite phrases about an invention 
is: ^Ht must be useful when obtained." If an inven- 
tion is not useful at first, Edison will work night 
and day to make it of service to others; but if it cannot 
be made useful, he abandons it. 

Some one asked Edison one day about genius. 
Genius is supposed by some people to be a peculiar 
87 



gift by which things can be done without working 
Edison replied: 

"'Two per cent is genius, ninety-eight per cent is 
hard work/' 

Edison believes in hard work most of all. Sometimes 
he will work night and day for three or four weeks, 
scarcely stopping to eat and sleep. Do you wonder 
that he finds out so many useful and wonderful things? 
Co-operating with him all the time are many loyal 
and enthusiastic workers. Can you see why they like 
to help him? 

2. What the Incandescent Lamp Is 

In 1879 Edison was granted a patent for the incan- 
descent lamp. For nearly forty years before this, 
electrical men had been working on the idea of such a 
lamp. These workers deserve a great deal of credit 
for their efforts, which should never be forgotten. 
Indeed, the great inventor would be the first to confess 
his debt to them. Edison, however, invented the 
first incandescent lamp which was of universal service, 
a lamp which could be used at any tirhe, anywhere. 

Incandescent means white hot. You have seen a 
wire heated until it was red hot. If the wire is made 
still hotter it becomes white hot. A red hot metal 
glows red; a white hot metal gives a white light and 
is said to be incandescent. 

If you examine an electric bulb you will see inside it a 
small network of fine wires. These wires are of tungsten 
metal. They offer great resistance to the electric 
current and become white hot when the current is 
88 


turned on. As soon as they become white hot they 
give off the beautiful white incandescent light with 
which we are familiar. 

One would think that such a fine wire would bum up 
and melt under the intense heat. And so it would if 
it were not for the simple fact that there is no air in 
the bulb. All the air, including the oxygen, has been 



exhausted and the bulb made air-tight. Nothing can 
burn or melt, not even a white hot wire, without the 
fire-supporting oxygen which is always present in 
the air. 


3. What this Lamp Does for Us 
It drives away darkness and turns night into day. 
It illuminates our streets, our homes, our stores, our 
workshops. It lights our railway trains, street cars, 
carriages, automobiles, and flying machines. 

It shines just as brightly down in the African mine, 
89 


or on the helmet of the diver on the bottom of the 
ocean, as it does on the page of the book we are reading. 

It lights the steamships at night as they plow 
through the darkness of the sea. It illuminates the 
submarine as it sinks under the dark waters, and helps 
the aviator to guide his flying machine as it ascends 
thousands of feet into the air. 

If we had the magic lamp of the fairy tale, do you 
think it would be half as useful as the electric lamp of 
to-day? 

Can you name some other ways in which this lamp 
serves us? 


Necessity is the mother of invention. 


Useful inventions seldom come by chance. They are 
the reward of patience, perseverance, long study, and 
hard work. — Selected. 


The heights by great men reached and kept 
Were not attained by sudden flight. 

But they, while their companions slept, 

Were toiling upward in the night. 

— Longfellow. 


We are living, we are dwelling 
In a grand eventful time. 

In an age on ages telling — 

To be living is sublime. 


90 


— Selected 



HOW ELECTRICITY LIGHTS THE CITY 
1. The Dark Day of 1780 

May 19, 1780, is known in American history as 
“The Dark Day” on account of the remarkable dark- 
ness that extended over all New England. The 
darkness began about ten o’clock in the morning and 
increased as the day wore on. 

In some places persons could not see to read com- 
mon print in the open air at noon. Birds sang their 
evening song, disappeared and became silent. Domes- 
tic fowls went to their roosts, cattle sought the barn- 
yard, and candles were lighted in the houses. Many 
people thought the day of judgment had come. 

91 


The legislature of Connecticut was then in session 
at Hartford. The house of representatives adjourned, 
and in the council it was proposed to do likewise. 

Colonel Davenport, a veteran of the Colonial wars, 
arose and objected, saying: ^'The day of judgment is 
either approaching, or it is not. If it is not, there is 
no cause for adjourning; if it is, I choose to be found in 
my place doing my duty. I move, therefore, that 
candles be brought and that we proceed with the 
business in hand.'' 

2. The Dark Day of 1917 

In 1917 the city of Philadelphia had a dark day. 
The exact date was Thursday, March the first. 

Without the warning which nature usually gives, 
a great cloud of darkness came down and enveloped 
the central portion of the city. The darkness began 
at ten o'clock, soon grew to almost midnight blackness, 
and continued until about three o'clock in the afternoon. 

The cloud did not come from the north, south, east, 
or west; it dropped down like a thick blanket from the 
zenith. 

According to the director of the weather bureau, it 
was one mile deep, covered an area of twenty-five 
square miles in the most densely populated portion of 
the city, and weighed 550,000 tons. 

Usually large clouds are reported by sentinels who are 
electrical operators in the outskirts and suburbs of the 
city, ten to thirty miles distant. But on this day the 
darkness came unheralded and unannounced. 

If the city had been in the candle age of 1780 the 
92 


people at work in the stores, workshops, and offices 
would have had to abandon their work. Traffic in 
the streets would have been at a standstill. Business 
could have been carried on only at great danger to 
life and limb. 

3. What Happened in the City 

But none of these things happened; in Philadelphia 
there was no danger and no stopping of work. Neither 
would there have been any stopping in New York, or 
Boston, or Chicago, or San Francisco, or any other 
great American city, because modern cities live and 
work in the electrical age. What really did happen in 
Philadelphia is interesting. 

When the darkness began to fall, the workers began 
to press electric buttons. Within fifteen minutes 
over a quarter of a million lights had been turned on. 

Immediately offices, stores, factories, and streets 
were flooded with light. Darkness was turned into 
day, and the people continued about their duties 
almost as if nothing unusual had occurred. What ten 
million candles could not have done, electricity had 
accomplished in the twinkling of an eye or the pressing 
of a button, and without the striking of a match. 

Where did the light come from? It came from the 
great central electric power plant of the city. From 
the great electrical machines it came silently under- 
ground over copper wires and cables into the center 
of the midnight blackness. One of these machines will 
supply a steady current of electricity sufficient to light 
and keep burning more than a million lamps, 

93 


4. What Happened in the Power House 

What happened in the power houses when the 
unusual demand for electricity asserted itself? There 
was no disorder, no rushing about. Each man knew 
what to do in the emergency and did it. 

The fires under the boilers in operation were forced. 
The boilers that held banked fires in readiness for just 
such an emergency were turned on full blast. In each 
hour while the darkness lasted enough extra coal was 
shoveled into the furnaces to heat the average city 
home for a period of eight years. 

This excess coal was not shoveled by human 
stokers stripped to the waist, as is often pictured in the 
hold of steam vessels. The work was done by auto- 
matic stokers. The man in charge by the pushing of a 
lever speeded up the electric motors which ram the 
coal into the furnaces. 

What happened to the increased power generated in 
the boiler room? It issued from the boiler room as 
steam, traveling at the rate of nearly two miles per 
minute through the pipes leading to the turbines. The 
turbines are the great wheels which run the dynamos 
which make the electricity. 

In some of these weird rotating machines the steam 
travels at the rate of sixty miles per minute — ^not 
sixty miles per hour. This speed is sixty times faster 
than the fastest express train; it is twice that of a 
shell from a twelve-inch gun. 

All this is a very wonderful and marvelous achieve- 
ment. But if the darkness had covered an area five 
94 


times as great it would have been dispelled, for this 
power plant had a reserve of 42,000 horse-power ready 
to meet an even greater emergency. 

These great electrical machines are the servants of 
the people, ever ready as a defense against darkness. 



Interior op a Huge Power House at Niagara Falls 

At the left are shown the great dynamos which are driven by the water 
power of Niagara. 


95 



THE ELECTRIC TELEGRAPH 
1. The Inventor 

The honor of inventing the first practical electric 
telegraph belongs to Samuel Finley Breese Morse. 
He was born at Charlestown, Massachusetts, in 1791. 

Morse was an artist and sculptor and later a pro- 
fessor of designing in New York. He began his 
experiments in 1832. For twelve 
years he had a terrible struggle. 
Painting was his only support and 
all his interest was centered in his 
invention. In order to economize 
his scanty means he slept and took 
his meals, which he prepared himself, 
in his studio. When he showed his 
friends the crude telegraph he had 
invented they laughed at him for 
spending all of his meager income on a useless toy. 

He exhibited the telegraph in Washington and tried 
to secure the sum of $30,000 from Congress to build 
an experimental line of fifty miles, but failed. For two 
years he wandered over Europe trying to secure patents 
and assistance, but without success. 

Again he went to Washington, in 1841, and set up 
his instruments and strung his wires. The congress- 
men to whom he explained his invention were amused. 
They regarded it merely as a toy. Finally, when 
reduced to dire poverty, he secured sufficient money 
from Congress for the test. This was in 1843. 

Now Morse had an opportunity to show what he 
96 



could do. After many delays a line was built from 
Washington to Baltimore and the wires were strung 
on poles. 

In May, 1844, the first message was sent over the 
line. It was — 

What hath God wrought?’’ 

The question became famous throughout the land; 
it is not yet fully answered. 

Professor Morse lived to be eighty years old, and 
died greatly honored by everyone for his services to 
his country and to the world. 

2. The Use of the Telegraph 

The telegraph uses an alphabet all its own. This is 
called the Morse alphabet or telegraph code. Instead 
of letters and figures it employs dots and dashes. 
Thus the letter A is represented by a dot and a dash 
(. — ) ; the figure 1 by a dot, two dashes, and a dot 
(. .). 

All telegraph offices throughout the country are 
connected by means of wires. 

The wires are supported on poles twenty feet or 
more in height, and are attached to them by glass or 
porcelain insulators to prevent the electric current from 
escaping. Sometimes they are carried underground. 

We will suppose that an operator in Chicago wants 
to send a message to an operator in New York. Each 
telegraph instrument is fitted with a key and a sounder. 
When the Chicago operator presses down the key an 
electric current is sent over the wire to New York, 


which causes the sounder in the New York office to 
strike upon a metallic point with a sharp click. 

The New York operator reads the sounds as fast as 
they come over the wire and takes the message. Every 
time the key is pressed in Chicago the sound is heard 
and read in New York in that same second. 

By the use of this wonderful invention a message can 
be sent to a friend one thousand miles distant in less 
than two hours. If the message were sent by mail, it 
would take perhaps two days. The time spent in send- 
ing the telegram is not spent by the telegraph, which is 
almost instantaneous, but in taking the message to the 
office and delivering it your friend. 

While at the office it is most interesting to watch 
the operator sending messages and to listen to the 
ticking of the sounder receiving them. 



Wireless Apparatus 


98 




WIRELESS 
1. How IT Works 

Even more marvelous than the telegraph is the 
method of sending messages by wireless. We can 
understand how a message can be flashed over a wire 
between two points. But when there is no wire, nothing 
but open space, it seems almost impossible, yet we 
know that it is being done every day. 

Everyone has seen the tall wireless masts, now so 
common everywhere. Sometimes we see them on 
ships, sometimes on housetops, and again built on the 
ground and reaching up into the air. 

How does a wireless message travel through the air 
without wires to conduct it? 

What happens when you drop a stone into a pool 
of water? Little waves and ripples travel outward 
in all directions in a circular form. The waves keep on 
going until the force of the blow on the water is spent 
99 



or until they strike the edge of the pool. The larger 
the stone the faster and farther the waves will travel. 

Very much the same thing happens in sending a 
wireless message. In place of a stone the operator uses 
an electric spark and in place of the water he uses 
the air. 

When an electric spark or a series of sparks is dis- 
charged in a wireless station, electric waves roll out- 
ward from the top of the mast. These waves travel 
out and onward through the air in all directions. 
The stronger the spark the farther they travel. On 
and on they go until they find the mast they are looking 
for. The wireless message is made up of dots and 
dashes or long and short waves similar to those of 
the wire telegraph and is just as easily read. 

2. How IT Helps the Ships at Sea 

All along the coast are wireless shore stations. 
Suppose a ship at sea has not been heard from and her 
owner wants to find out where she is. When he sends 
a message to the captain, this is what is done: the 
operator looks up his list of ships and notes the call 
signal and wave lengths of that particular ship. 

He then adjusts or tunes his instrument to corre- 
spond to the ship's call. Now he is ready. The sparks 
flash the message, sending the electric waves far out 
over the ocean. On and on they go past other ships 
until they find the particular ship they are intended 
for. When they strike the wireless mast of that ship 
they are received. The ship replies, and the owner 
knows where his ship is and just what she is doing. 

100 



Today every ocean-going vessel is equipped with 
wireless. These slender web-like structures rising 
above the deck often save ships from destruction. 
If an iceberg is found in the steamer paths, warning 
signals are flashed to all other vessels in the vicinity. 
If a ship is on fire or in other danger it can send out 
its S 0 S signals and call to its aid all vessels within 
reach. 

The SOS signal is a call to be used only by ships 
in times of distress. In the ocean telegraph alphabet 
the letter S is represented by three dots and the letter 
0 by three dashes. When the wireless operator sends 
the SOS signal he flashes three dots, three dashes, 

three dots; thus , . . . '' When a ship at sea 

receives this signal it knows that the ship sending 
it is in danger, perhaps sinking, and needs help 
immediately. 


101 


Transatlantic steamers now print newspapers for 
their passengers, giving the news of the day received 
by wireless when the ship is in midocean. 

The wireless telegraph sends messages from continent 
to continent, from steamship to steamship, and from 
flying machines thousands of feet in the air to the 
military commander on the battlefield. 

There appears to be no limit to the distance which a 
wireless message can be sent. As early as 1910 
Marconi, the inventor of wireless, sent a message from 
Clifden, Ireland, to Buenos Aires, Argentina, a distance 
of 6700 miles. 

In 1918 a message was sent from the Marconi Station 
at Carnarvon, Wales, to the wireless station in Sidney, 
Australia. The distance was 12,000 miles, practically 
half way around the world, and the message was 
received with perfect clearness. 

QUESTIONS 

Why did men laugh at Professor Morse and call his invention 
a 

Would you be willing to be laughed at if you could invent 
something that would be of great service to your city, state or 
country? 

Did you ever try to invent anything? Why not try? 


The reason most men do not achieve more is because 
they do not attempt more. — Sheldon. 


They can, who think they can. 

102 


OTHER USES OF ELECTRICITY 
1. The Electric Street Car 

The first street car was much like the old-fashioned 
stage coach. These cars were drawn by horses over 
tracks laid in the city streets, very much as we have 
them now. 

When the cars were made larger to carry more people, 
the work of pulling them became terribly hard. Many 
people now living can remember how sorry they were 
for the poor horses toiling over miles of track with 
their heavy loads. 

Many methods of relieving the horses were tried, 
the cable being the most successful. The cable was 
an endless wire rope which ran underground between 
the tracks and pulled the cable cars along very rapidly. 

But the happiest day came for the car horses when 
they were taken off the tracks entirely and the giant, 
electricity, was harnessed in their place. Equally 
glad were the people who rode and the kind-hearted 
horse-car drivers, who lost little time in learning to 
drive the new electric motor from which they get the 
name ''motormen.'' 

How easily the powerful electric current flows down 
the trolley pole from the wire above and drives the 
heaviest cars almost without an effort! What a 
pleasure it is to ride even long distances, behind the 
swift electric horse! Wherever you wish to go this 
willing horse carries you, sometimes on the surface, 
sometimes overhead, sometimes underground, and 
never tires. 


103 


2. The Electric Train 

How would you like to ride over three great moun- 
tain ranges on an electric train — on the wonderful 
train that crosses the Rocky Mountains in Montana, 
the Bitter Root Mountains in Idaho, and the Cascade 
Mountains in Washington. 

Let us board the cars at a little station in Montana 



and take a ride. ''All aboard!’’ shouts the conductor, 
and the train begins to move toward the west. Across 
the level plain we go at a speed of sixty miles an hour. 
Soon we leave the plain behind and begin to climb 
the hills. Looking out of the car window as the train 
sweeps around a curve we see the slender trolley wire 
stretching over the track. We wonder how such a 
104 


thin thread of copper wire can pull the long train so 
easily. 

Now we begin to climb the steep sides of the moun- 
tains and the train slows down to twenty-five miles 
an hour. On one side great rocks reach up into the 
sky. On the other side a swift river dashes along in 
the valley hundreds of feet below. Just to look down 
almost takes our breath away. 

In a short time we arrive at Donald, a little station 
at the top of the Rocky Mountains. Donald is more 
than six thousand feet above the sea. 

Passing over the crest of the Rockies we begin to 
run down the western slope. On we go past snow- 
covered peaks, past tall forests of pine and fir, past 
deep river gorges, past gold and silver and copper mines, 
past Butte, Deer Lodge, and Missoula, to St. Regis. 

Now the Bitter Root Mountains come into view. 
Now we are nearing their snow-capped tops. Now we 
are speeding down their western slopes into Idaho. 
On and on we go until the beautiful Cascade Moun- 
tains come into sight. Soon we have crossed them 
and our electric ride ends on the Pacific coast in the 
state of Washington. 

Did you ever hear of a scenic railway like that? 

3. Electric-Driven Machinery 

Have you ever visited a large factory or workshop 
where the machinery was run by steam power? Over- 
head were long shafts attached to the ceiling, with 
whirling pulley wheels and leather belts running 
down to the machines. Such clumsy devices are 
105 


getting fewer, as the electric giant has entered to take 
the place of steam power. The shafts have been 
taken down, the maze of whirling wheels and belts 
has been removed. All you see now are a few electric 
wires which have taken their places. Each machine 
has its own electric motor, a little iron box fastened to 
it. Into this a wire carries the current which drives 
the separate machine. 

4. Domestic Uses of Electricity 

Electricity has entered the home, not only to light 
it, but to perform the work of a servant. Press a 
button in the electric sweeper and you have a broom 
which removes dust by the simple process of eating 
it up. Press a button and electricity will run your 
sewing machine. If you wish, electricity will turn the 
washing machine and wash the clothes and wring 
them out. Then it will heat the iron with which to 
iron them when dry. 



106 


QUESTIONS 

I 

Name some of the animals which men have used like slaves 
because of their great strength. 

How does the giant slave, electricity, help horses, those faithful 
slaves who have helped people throughout so many ages? 

Mention some of the heavy work which this giant slave does 
like play. 

How is electricity carried from one place to another? 

II 

Have you ever played with a toy magnet? 

Have you ever seen the immense magnets which are used at 
the power plant in making electricity? 

If the men at the power plant should fail to do their work, 
what would happen to our houses, our streets, our electric cars 
and factories? 

Will you make a prophecy about what kinds of work the giant, 
electricity, will be doing for people twenty years from now? 

III 

What can you tell about the work of the linemen? How do 
they serve everyone in our city? 

Why is it necessary to insulate electric wires? 

Why does our city have a law requiring that all new wiring 
be inspected by proper authorities? 

What is the danger in touching fallen wires in the street? 

What is the danger in climbing a pole on which electric wires are 
fastened? 

Why is it dangerous to stand under a solitary tree during a 
thunderstorm? 

What do you know about the danger from the third rail on 
electric railroads? 


107 











THE TELEPHONE 

The telephone has annihilated distance, wrapped a 
network of quivering wire nerves about the globe and 
brought the hundreds of millions of the human race 
mouth to ear. — Frank G. Carpenter. 




If the American people who lived 
when General Grant was president 
had been told that it was possible 
for two men ten miles apart to talk 
with each other, they would not have 
believed it. They would have re- 
plied: ''That is impossible. Men 
can talk with each other only face to 
face, and within speaking distance. 
No one can shout loud enough to be 
heard ten miles.’' 

That is true. No man could 
shout loud enough to be heard / 
one mile — much less ten. / 

Yet we know that today 
it is possible for a man to sit 
in a room in New York and 
call up an entire stranger in 
Chicago, or Denver, or San 
Francisco. These men can talk 
with each other almost as easily as 
if they were in the same 
room. Yet they are 


DISTANT SPEAKING 


separated by hundreds or thousands of miles. They 
do not see each other, yet they talk as friend to friend. 
Some day, perhaps, they will see each other over the 
telephone just as easily as they now hear each other. 
That is an invention still to be made — perhaps by 
some one who is now an American school boy. 

The wonderful invention by which distant speaking 
is done is the telephone. The first telephone was 
exhibited at the Centennial Exposition in Philadelphia 
in 1876. Many people who are now living saw it 
there. Before that time the only way for two people 
to talk together was to meet face to face. If a man 
wanted to talk with a friend ten miles distant, he must 
travel ten miles to him. Today he can talk with him 
without leaving his home. 

There are now over one hundred millions of people 
in the United States. The long-distance telephone 
brings them all within speaking distance of each other 
and makes them neighbors. 


Men have always found means of communicating 
with each other at a distance. The Indian way of 
sending messages was by smoke signals. The natives 
of Africa relayed the news of the day across the country 
by the simple method of beating drums. The Signal 
Corps of the Army uses flags and the heliograph to 
telegraph orders from one point to another; and the 
letter courier and carrier pigeon are as old as history. 
It remained for the electric telegraph and telephone 
to carry messages ''as quick as lightning.^^ 

112 


THE STORY OF THE INVENTION OF 
THE TELEPHONE 
1. The Inventor of the Telephone 

In the year 1870 there came to America a young 
Scotchman from Edinburgh, where he had been born 
twenty-three years before. He had few friends, 
little money, and poor health. In fact, he had crossed 
the ocean in the hope that the climate of the New 
World would make him well and 
strong. 

This young man was Alexander 
Graham Bell, afterwards to win 
fame and fortune as the inventor of 
the speaking telephone. At this 
time young Bell was a teacher of 
''visible speech'' to deaf mutes. 

Visible speech is the method of 
teaching the deaf and dumb to speak 
by imitating the motion of the lips of the teacher, 
instead of by the finger alphabet. 

After a year spent in Canada, the young teacher 
regained his health and began to teach visible speech 
in the deaf-and-dumb schools of Boston. For several 
years he devoted himself to this work with great 
success. So well did he succeed that he might have 
continued as a teacher all his life had it not been for 
his interest in electricity and the electric telegraph. 

The young professor knew how sound waves were 
carried from the throat to the ear, and how the electric 
impulse was sent over the telegraph wires. He 

„ 113 



believed it possible to send the voice over a wire a 
long distance, so that a person listening at the other 
end of the wire could hear spoken words. Was not 
that a wonderful idea? 

2. The Little Workshop 

To carry out his experiments he fitted up a little 
workshop near his school. The place was littered with 
tuning forks, magnets, batteries, coils of wire, tin 
cans, strange chemicals, and other contrivances never 
seen before. 

He had working with him a young mechanic, Thomas 
A. Watson, who made the apparatus which Bell 
invented. Here in his spare hours he worked at his 
invention and struggled with failure after failure to 
make sound travel over wires. Night after night 
Bell and Watson worked together, trying first one 
plan and then another with little success. Often they 
were discouraged and almost ready to give up in 
despair, but still they kept on trying, and at last 
their efforts were rewarded. 

One hot summer afternoon Watson was sitting at 
the work bench in front of an instrument fitted with 
vibrating steel springs. A wire stretched from this 
instrument into the next room where Bell was listening 
with the receiver at his ear as Watson snapped the 
springs. One of the springs stopped vibrating and 
Watson snapped it again. Still it did not start and 
he kept on idly snapping it. Suddenly he heard a 
shout from the next room and Bell came rushing in, 
pale with excitement. 


114 


'^Snap that spring again, Watson! Don’t change 
anything! Let me see what you did!” 

Bell had heard a strange sound at his end of the 
wire. It was only a faint echo, but fortunately the 
right man had his ear at the receiver at the right 
moment and caught it. Instantly he knew that the 
faint sound had been carried by electricity. 

The speaking telephone was born in that second. 
But that was only the beginning. It required many 
trials and many heart-breaking months of experiment- 
ing before they were able to send and hear a complete 
sentence over the telephone. 

When the little box telephone was first shown to the 
public at the Centennial Exhibition in 1876, little 
notice was taken of it. It seemed too absurd. 

3. The Emperor of Brazil 

One day, Dom Pedro, who was then the Emperor 
of Brazil, walked through the exhibition. He was 
deeply interested in scientific questions and at once 
put the telephone to the test. He held the iron box 
receiver to his ear and listened, while Bell talked from 
another part of the building. When Bell’s voice began 
to come over the wire, the emperor put down the 
instrument and cried excitedly, ^'It speaks! It 
speaks!” The scientists and foreign visitors who had 
gathered were greatly impressed. The telephone 
exhibit was saved, and from then on was one of the 
chief wonders of the exhibition. 

Many and prolonged were the struggles of Pro- 
fessor Bell before the telephone came into use. In 
115 


1877 he exhibited the telephone before an audience in 
Salem, Massachusetts. The instrument had been 
connected by means of a telegraph line with Boston. 
At the Boston end of the line Watson sent mes- 
sages to various members of the Salem audience. 
The newspapers told about the feat, the like of which 
was never before attempted, the sending of news over 
the space of sixteen miles by the human voice. 

In 1917 there were nearly fourteen million telephones 
in the world, and the human voice had been sent nearly 
ten thousand miles. 


QUESTIONS 

How was word sent quickly before the telephone was invented? 

Has the telephone ever saved life? 

Can you think of an instance where it was so used? 

When Benjamin Franklin was postmaster of Phila- 
delphia, an answer by mail to a letter to Boston 
required three weeks. Now an answer may be had 
in forty-eight hours or less by return post. By tele- 
phone a reply may be had in a few short minutes. 



116 



©IJ»0 


Telephone Centiial 


Philadelphia Listening to San Francisco, 


THE TRANSCONTINENTAL TELEPHONE 

The first telephones were not very powerful. They 
could carry the voice only a short distance. Patiently 
and persistently Dr. Bell and his assistants kept at 
work inventing and planning to extend the distance. 

When New York first talked to Chicago, a thousand 
miles away, over the long-distance line, people thought 
that it was a wonderful thing, as indeed it was. Yet 
it was a far more wonderful thing when the human 
voice was made to leap three thousand miles across the 
continent, and the cities of New York and San Fran- 
cisco were connected by the long-distance telephone. 

In the presence of the mayor and other public 
oflBcials of New York City, telephone officials, and 
invited guests, the ocean-to-ocean telephone line was 
opened on January 25, 1915. At the New York 
terminal was Dr. Alexander Graham Bell; at the 
San Francisco terminal was Thomas A. Watson, who 
had assisted Dr. Bell in the invention of the first 
telephone. 

It was a thrilling moment when Dr. Bell called into 
the transmitter; 

“Ahoy! Ahoy! Mr. Watson, can you hear me?” 
using the very language that he had used almost forty 
years before, when the first spoken words sped across 
the wire. 

“Yes, I hear you perfectly. Dr. Bell,” was the 
reply of Thomas A. Watson at San Francisco. 

Another thrilling moment occurred on February 11, 
1915, when the transcontinental line was opened for 
118 


Philadelphia in the presence of the mayor and city 
officials. This time not only the voice of man, but 
the voice of the Liberty Bell, known and revered by 
every American, was sent from Independence Hall 
across the country. At the mayor's signal the bell 
was struck and the note was distinctly heard in Safi 
Francisco. 

When our forefathers put the famous motto on the 
old bell, little did they dream that its brave message 
would one day be flashed across the entire continent 
in an instant of time. 



The Liberty Bell Surrounded by Wreaths and Floral Tributes in 
Independence Hall Square, July Fourth, 1919. 


119 


FLYING WORDS 


If the boys and girls of today should live a thousand 
years they would see many marvelous inventions, 
but none would be likely to lessen the marvel of talk- 
ing over the telephone. 

Imagine for a moment what happens when a person 
in New York talks with a person in San Francisco. 
After the operator has gotten the proper connection 
the New York party speaks. Let us imagine that you 
are speaking. 

'' Good-moming, San Francisco.’' 

What happens? The words, spoken within , sound 
of the boisterous Atlantic Ocean, leap in one-fifteenth 
of a second to the Pacific coast. Fast as thought 
they fly. In much less time than it would take you 


to throw a ball across the playground the words have 
sped over more than three thousand miles. 

Let us follow in imagination their marvelous flight. 
It will take much longer for us to mention a few of 
the places they would pass than it would take them to 
go in reality. 

Out from New York goes the message, ^'Good- 
morning, San Francisco.’’ In an instant it flashes 
under the steel and stone buildings of New York, over 
northern New Jersey, across the Delaware River. 
Never pausing, on it leaps across Pennsylvania’s 
* blue Alleghany mountains, and down into the smoke 
of Pittsburgh. In less than a wink of an eye, the 
words cross the fertile prairie lands of Ohio and Indiana, 
and reach Chicago. Past the Windy City and over 
its hum of busy traffic in an atom of time, on they 
travel over the great wheat belts to Omaha, and never 
stopping, onward, onward, past the mighty canyons 
of the Colorado River to Denver. 

Over the Great Divide and snow caps of the Sierra 
Mountains they fly, on, on, on, and Salt Lake City is 
left behind. Now they have passed the blistering 
desert, and stretches of sage-brush and sand of the 
western plains. 

In another twinkle the white-capped mountains are 
left behind and they are in California, the land of 
summer. The flying words have alighted in San 
Francisco, on the shores of the Pacific Ocean — and a 
distance of thirty-four hundred miles of continent has 
been spanned in one-fifteenth of a second. 

No wishing carpet ever sailed as fast. Your words 
121 


have reached San Francisco just as soon as your 
shout would reach a boy around the corner. 

Traveling at that rate of speed would take your 
breath away. If you had been whirled across the 
continent so swiftly as that you could not gasp out 
words to tell the tale. 


THE FAMILY TELEPHONE 

Of the many modern conveniences that science 
has given to the home perhaps none is more useful 
than the telephone. It keeps the family in constant 
touch with the community, and is a ready and con- 
venient helper in almost every emergency. 

If the housewife cannot go to the store herself and 
has no one to send, the telephone takes her to the 
stores where she buys her provisions and supplies in 
a minute's time, and that without leaving her house. 

The telephone keeps the family in touch with neigh- 
bors, as well as with friends who live at a distance. 
Small engagements and social calls can often be made 
by 'phone, thus saving needed time and the trouble of 
letter writing or of dressing for the street. 

The telephone is always ready for an emergency; 
it reaches the doctor's office in case of sudden illness, 
the police and fire stations in case of danger, and is a 
convenient means of protection in time of need. 

These are only a few of the services which this useful 
invention renders the modern family. Can you give 
examples of ways in which you have known the tele- 
phone to save: Time, energy, money, property, life? 

122 


THE VOICES OF TWO OCEANS 

Has the thought ever occurred to you of how many 
weary tiresome days must have been spent by Balboa 
before he came within sight of the Pacific Ocean? How 
wonderful it would have seemed to him if he could 
have sent word of his discovery back to his home in 
Spain within a month's time! If he had written a 
message he would perhaps have tried to describe the 
difference between the newly found ocean and the 
familiar Atlantic Ocean. 

He would hardly have been able to imagine the 
possibility of sending a letter across the Atlantic, and 
never in his wildest dreamings could he have imagined 
that anyone could ever hear the surge-voices of both 
oceans at the same time. Yet that is just what 
happened in 1915, when a group of telephone officials 
and invited guests were gathered in a telephone 
exchange in New York City. 

When the proper connection had been secured, the 
telephone bell rang. One of the New York men 
unhooked the receiver, placed it to his ear and listened. 

''Good afternoon. This is the Cliff House, San 
Francisco," said a voice at the other end of the wire. 

"Good afternoon, this is New York City," replied 
the New York man. 

"Do you hear me?" asked the voice at San 
Francisco. 

"Yes, I hear you distinctly," answered the New 
Yorker. 

"Then, listen!" was the reply. 

123 


A look of surprise and wonder crept over the listener's 
face. Silently he passed the receiver to the next man, 
who in turn passed it to the next, until all the men in 
the room had listened. 

What was the mysterious message? Simply this: 
a man was sitting in a room overlooking the Pacific 
Ocean; he had thrown up his window and allowed 
the Pacific Ocean to speak through the mouthpiece 
of his telephone to the men in New York. 

Slowly the great breakers rolled in from the sea 
and dashed against the cliffs under his window with a 
mighty roar. That roar filled the mouth of the tele- 
phone, and running over the wires across the continent 
filled the ears of the men in New York. They had heard 
the voice of the Pacific Ocean. 

Soon another telephone rang in the New York 
office. '"Good afternoon, this is the Beach House at 
Coney Island,'^ said a voice. 

'"Good afternoon, this is New York,'' was the 
reply. 

''Do you hear me?" 

"Yes, plainly." 

"Then, listen!" 

The officer listened. Again the noise of water was 
heard. It was the rush of the surf rolling up the 
beach from the Atlantic Ocean. The man at Coney 
Island had done the same thing that the man at San 
Francisco had done. He had allowed the Atlantic to 
speak to the man in the New York office. 

Then the officer placed the San Francisco receiver 
to his left ear, and held the Coney Island receiver to 
124 


his right ear. The two great oceans were speaking to 
him, both at the same time. In that quiet office he 
could hear plainly the dash of the Pacific breakers and 
the roll of the Atlantic surf. 

The two oceans were more than three thousand 
miles apart, separated by the width of the American 
Continent; but the telephone had reached out and 
brought their voices together, into one room. The 
sound of their waves met in the ears of one man. 

Every other man in the room had in turn the same 
wonderful experience — ^had heard '"deep calling unto 
deep.’’ Then, through-connection was made from 
Coney Island to San Francisco, and the listener in 
California heard the white sea horses of the Atlantic 
and the breakers of the Pacific at the same time, just 
as plainly as the men in New York had heard them. 

If some one had told this story several years ago, 
few people would have believed it possible; yet it 
is now true. 


Strange as it may seem, the actual sound of the voice 
does not travel over the telephone wire. A glance 
into the mouthpiece of the transmitter and into the 
ear-hole of the receiver will show a thin sheet of dark 
shiny metal. This disk of metal is the ear-drum of 
the telephone. When the sound waves of the voice 
strike this and enter the transmitter, they become 
electrical waves and flow silently over the wire until 
they reach the receiver at the other end. In the receiver 
the electrical waves again become sound waves and 
the listener hears the words of the person speaking. 

125 


TELEPHONING BY WIRELESS 

At first all telegrams were sent over wires. This 
was before the great Italian inventor, Marconi, invented 
the wireless telegraph. With the wireless Marconi 
was able to send messages for thousands of miles, with 
nothing that the human eye could see to carry them. 

The wireless telegraph uses sounds, not words, to 
carry the message. Could spoken words be sent by 
wireless? This was a far harder thing. The telephone 
workers began to wonder if it could be done. At 
first it was only a dream, but they set to work to make 
their dream come true. 

Soon they were able to telephone short distances 
without wires. From a shore radio station they talked 
with the captain of a ship fifty miles at sea. They not 
only sent a message, but actually talked with him as 
we do with our friends over the telephone. But. there 
were no wires between, nothing but open space. 

Gradually the range of the wireless telephone 
increased. Soon after the transcontinental telephone 
was opened, in 1915, the telephone workers accom- 
plished something even more wonderful than talking 
from coast to coast over the wires. They telephoned 
without wires from coast to coast and to points still 
more distant. 

The United States Government has a very powerful 
radio station at Arlington, Virginia, near Washington. 
From this station spoken words were flashed to the 
wireless station at Darien, on the Isthmps of Panama, 
2100 miles away. Next the telephone men talked with 
126 


San Diego, California, and then with San Francisco, 
2500 miles distant. Not content with this, they talked 
with Honolulu, far out in the Pacific Ocean, 4900 miles 
from Arlington. Later they talked with French officers 
in the Eiffel Tower in Paris, on the other side of the 
Atlantic Ocean. 

At one time the cities of Honolulu and Paris, nearly 
9000 miles apart, were linked with Washington and 
the three cities talked together for a period of fifteen 
minutes, hearing each other perfectly. 

During the World War, many airplanes were fitted 
with wireless telephones. By means of these, flight 
leaders were able to direct their squadrons, and to 
communicate with the commander in the field. Today 
an airplane making a flight of any long distance carries 
a wireless operator. 

For thousands of years electricity and the air that 
surrounds the earth had been quietly waiting for men 
to use them to carry their messages. Only recently 
we have found out how to do it. Are there not other 
things quite as useful waiting to be discovered? 

QUESTIONS 

How long do you think it will be before we shall be able to 
telephone around the earth? How many miles is that? 

If the people of America and Europe and Asia and Africa could 
talk to each other by telephone, do you think they would under- 
stand and like each other better? Why? 

ril put a girdle about the earth in forty minutes. 

— Shakespeare 


127 



THE NETWORK OF TELEPHONE WIRES 

When you talk over the transcontinental telephone 
from coast to coast the sound of your voice is carried 
through 1480 tons of copper wire, strung on more 
than 130,000 poles. 

Wherever possible the wires, not only of the trans- 
continental line but of all lines, are placed underground 
as a protection from storms, fires and other dangers. 
The long-distance telephone uniting Boston, New York, 
Philadelphia, Baltimore and Washington is a good 
example. These cities are connected by telephone 
subway, the wires being run through conduits under- 
ground. This is the longest underground line in the 
world and required the digging of a trench 660 miles 
long between the cities. 

The telephone has woven a network over the con- 
tinent with twenty-two million miles of copper wire, 
128 




connecting every city and hamlet, bringing the West 
to the East and the East to the West, the North to 
the South and the South to the North. Twenty-two 
million miles of copper wire is sufficient to coil around 
the earth at the equator over 800 times. It is long 
enough to run from the earth to the moon and back 
again forty times. 

The poles stretch the wires and cables across the 
country in all directions, and the conduits carry them 
underground beneath the great cities to central offices, 
and to millions of individual telephones; and the whole 
vast system is kept in running order so that anybody 
may talk at any time to anyone, anywhere. 

America is the land of the telephone, with an average 
of one telephone for every ten people. It is estimated 
that nearly three-fourths of the whole number of 
telephones in the world are in use in the United States. 


The heavens declare the glory of God; 

And the firmament sheweth his handiwork. 

Day unto day uttereth speech. 

And night unto night sheweth knowledge. 

There is no speech nor language 
Where their voice is not heard. 

Their line is gone out through all the earth 
And their words to the end of the world. 


130 


A VISIT TO A TELEPHONE CENTRAL 
OFFICE 

Let us enter a busy central office in any large Ameri- 
can city to see a telephone switchboard at work. 

The great switchboard extends the length of the 
bright and airy room. This switchboard is sometimes 
called '^the brain of the telephone system.^' Here the 
telephone girls work. Perhaps eighty or ninety of 
them are seated at regular intervals before it, busily 
answering calls. 

The switchboard sparkles with tiny lights, each one 
a call for instant service. The operators' arms flash 
here and there as they answer the calls a^ fast as they 
come in. 

The switchboard, a picture of which is ^hown on 
page 117, is used to connect the telephones of persons 
who wish to talk with each other. The work of the 
operator is to make the connection between the two 
'phones. When a caller removes his receiver from the 
hook, a tiny light springs up beside his number on the 
switchboard. When the operator sees the light, she 
lifts a cord and inserts its end or plug in the small 
hole next the light, presses the ''listening key" on the 
keyboard and says, "Number please?" 

The caller gives the number, for example. Main 
1-2-6-8." The operator inserts another cord in the 
hole next to this number, and. presses a key which 
rings the bell of the person wanted. She then places 
the key in position for talking, and two people far 
apart may talk with each other as if face to face. 

131 


The alert and busy operators sit quietly at their tasks, 
never raising their voices above a conversational tone. 
Each caller receives the proper share of attention, and 
each is answered pleasantly and courteously. 

The telephone central ofRce never takes a holiday. 
It is always at work, from noon to midnight and from 
midnight again to noon. In some of the larger cities 
as many as 1,000,000 calls are handled daily. 

The small force of operators on duty at three or 
four o'clock in the morning have comparatively few 
calls to answer, but it is very necessary that Central" 
be awake. Perhaps there may be an alarm of fire, or 
a hurry call for the doctor from some mother whose 
child has been taken suddenly ill, or a police call for 
the patrol. These are but a few of the emergency calls 
which often arise when the city is asleep. 

Before five o'clock the operators would know when 
the city is awakening, even if they had no clocks, for 
more and more signal lights on the switchboard begin 
to glow. By eight o'clock the city is wide awake and 
hundreds of calls are pouring in. By nine o'clock the 
number of calls has tripled; ten o'clock sees six times 
the munber, and by noon there is a rush of talk which 
tingles every wire of the system. News of armies, of 
business, and of sport, messages of joy and sorrow, of 
births and deaths, leap across the brass-tipped con- 
necting cords almost as fast as the twinkling signals 
fiash into light on the great switchboard. 

Thus the telephone brings people within speaking 
distance of each other in a manner unknown and 
almost undreamed of half a century ago. 

132 


THE TELEPHONE GIRL 

Do you know this telephone girl? You probably 
would not recognize her on the street. But is it 
not true that you are on speaking terms with her? 
She is a person whom all of us have heard speak, but 
whom few of us have seen. 

She is just a voice, but she speaks millions of times 
every twenty-four hours. In the United States alone 
she answers over 30,000,000 calls 
every day. Without her the tele- 
phone system could not operate. 

The telephone girFs calling list 
contains the names of the greatest 
men of the country. The Presi- 
dent, the governors of all the states, 
all the senators and members of 
Congress, all judges, doctors, law- 
yers, ministers and business men 
are included. There is no state, no 
institution or business house that 
can carry on business a single day without her helpful 
service. 

She has become very numerous. If we count the 
girls employed in the exchanges of all the telephone 
companies, there are fully 120,000 of them earning 
their living as telephone girls. If all telephone girls 
should suddenly decide to go to college they would 
fill one hundred colleges like Vassar. If they were 
gathered in one place they would equal the population 
of cities like Fall River, Massachusetts; or Dayton, Ohio. 

133 




The work of the telephone girl requires a clear mind, 
quick action and strict attention to duty. During 
the busy hours she must be doing and thinking of 
half a dozen different things at once without becoming 
confused. Above all she must learn to exercise patience 
with the demands of a great variety of people. 

The telephone girl is always polite and courteous in 
speech. Rudeness on her part is almost unknown — 
which is perhaps* more than can be said for some of 
those who talk to her. People with bad memories 
sometimes call the wrong numbers, and then blame the 
operator for the delay due to their own mistakes. 
Of course they are not wholly to blame for their 
impatience, because they cannot see her at work, nor 
can they see the other subscribers who are waiting 
their turn. 

If we understood the speed with which the telephone 
girl works we would not be in quite such a hurry when 
we telephone. As a matter of fact, the telephone 
girl almost always answers our call in less than four 
seconds. The average time is three and one-half 
seconds. She will often answer our call in one second, 
which is as near perfection as anyone has a right to 
expect. But it is not always possible for her to do 
this because subscribers do not call one at a time. 
Perhaps if we could see her when really busy, we 
should cease to be impatient, and wonder that she 
answers so quickly. 

Do you think it must be hard sometimes for the telephone 
operator to answer politely and pleasantly? Why? 

134 


STORIES OF THE TELEPHONE GIRL 

Among workers the telephone girl stands in the 
front rank because of thorough training, high efficiency, 
constant courtesy, and courage in time of danger. 

1. The Hotel Fire 

When fire broke out in the Jackson House, the 
leading hotel of an eastern city. Miss Martina Smith, 
the night telephone operator, proved herself a heroine. 
By her coolness and courage she prevented a panic 
and almost certain loss of life. 

The telephone switchboard was near the clerk's 
desk and within plain view of the hotel lobby. Stand- 
ing at the desk were half a dozen travelers who had just 
arrived. In one corner waiting for taxicabs were a 
group of ladies and their escorts laughing and chatting 
gaily. The hands of the clock pointed to twelve and 
at that late hour most of the guests had retired for 
the night. 

This was the scene when someone fiashed word to 
Miss Smith that the hotel was threatened with fiames. 
On receiving this terrifying news, the quiet girl seated 
behind the switchboard did not lose her presence of 
mind. She made no frantic gestures and no outcry. 
Her first step was to call the fire exchange, which she 
did in a voice scarcely audible. 

Quick!" she whispered, '^the Jackson House is on 
fire!" 

Not one of the men standing at the hotel register 
heard her send in the alarm. The clerk, who was within 
135 


a foot of the board was the only one who heard and 
he gave no outward sign. He merely requested the 
guests to be patient as the hotel was crowded and 
there was a slight confusion in the room numbers. 

Meanwhile the operator was working with both 
hands, ringing the room telephones in that section of 
the hotel which was in greatest danger. Every cord 
was up and every telephone ringing. As fast as her 
calls were answered the calm and assuring voice of 
Miss Smith replied, ^'Please come downstairs at once; 
there is a fire in your part of the building.'^ 

From one room to another she sent in her warning 
calls. In rooms where she received no immediate 
answers she kept the cords up and the telephone 
bells ringing. No one in the lobby knew of the fire 
until the first load of hastily clad men and women 
poured out of the elevator and spread the news. 

While the clerk was trying to calm the frightened 
people now rapidly coming downstairs, the automatic 
fire alarms throughout the building began ringing, the 
fire engines arrived and the uproar increased. In 
the midst of the excitement Miss Smith sat calmly at 
the switchboard and kept at her task of ringing up 
every room in the hotel. 

As the fiames spread, dense clouds of smoke filled 
the lobby and began choking her, but the brave girl 
stuck to her post until she had warned every guest of 
the danger. When her task was finished she fainted 
from sheer exhaustion. On reviving she would not 
leave the hotel until she was assured that every one 
of the hundred and fifty guests was safe. To her 
136 


was clearly due the credit that no lives were lost in 
the fire. 


. 2. The Bank Robbers 

If it had not been for the prompt action of Mary 
Elizabeth Neil, night telephone 
operator, the People's Savings 
Bank at Westfield would have 
been robbed of a large sum of 
money. 

Night calls were few in West- 
field, and Miss Neil was per- 
mitted to sleep in the rooms of 
the local telephone exchange. 

One morning about two o'clock 
she was awakened by a heavy 
report and the sound of broken 
glass falling from a window of 
the bank building across the 
street. At once she realized that 
something was wrong. A mo- 
ment's thought told her that an 
attempt was being made to rob 
the bank. Quickly she seated 
herself at the switchboard and rang up 
the town marshal and the officers of the 
bank and notified them of the danger. 

While calling them she kept thinking, ''What else 
can I do to foil the robbers?" Her mind worked 
rapidly. In imagination she could see the thieves 
removing the contents of the great bank vault. There 
137 



was no time to lose. In a flash she inserted the plug 
in the board and set the telephone ringing in the bank. 
She could almost hear the shrill peal of the bell as it 
echoed and re-echoed against the high ceiling. She 
could almost see the look of fear that came into the 
faces of the startled robbers as the bell broke the still- 
ness of the quiet room. 

When the officers arrived at the bank the bell was 
still ringing, but the robbers had fled. An examina- 
tion showed that they had forced open the door of the 
safe, but had been interrupted before getting possession 
of the money and valuables. In their haste to escape 
they even forgot to take their burglar tools away 
with them, and these articles afterward led to their 
capture. 

For her intelligent action- in the presence of danger. 
Miss Neil received two rewards, one a sum of money 
from the bank, the other a handsome gold watch from 
the company which carried the bank's burglar insur-' 
ance. On the watch was engraved: 

'"Presented to Mary Elizabeth Neil by the Fidelity 
Company in recognition of services rendered Septem- 
ber 15, 1915." 


3. The Drowning Man 

By knowing how to think and act quickly telephone 
operators often save valuable lives. This is the story 
of two telephone girls who helped to save a man from 
drowning. 

One cold, stormy day in January an operator in the 
Fall River exchange received this message over the 
138 


telephone, ''Give me the toll operator! There is a 
man drowning! I must have help at once!"' 

In his excitement the person calling did not wait to 
tell where he was, but hung up the receiver imme- 
diately. 

The operator realized that this was an emergency 
call — but what could she do? Where had the call 
come from? She knew it was from a pay station and 
that was all. There was a pay station at the West 
Isle Club, a lonely spot on the Rhode Island shore, 
near the Sakonnet Point lighthouse. Quickly she 
rang the number and again the excited voice replied, 
"There is a man struggling in the water and unless 
some one from Little Compton or Sakonnet Point can 
help us he will be drowned.'' 

At once the operator called up Little Compton and 
with the assistance of the operator at that point 
reached several persons living near the water front 
and asked them to go out in a boat to the assistance 
of the drowning man. In a few minutes he was rescued 
and brought ashore in an exhausted and unconscious 


condition. 



139 


The rescued man proved to be a keeper of the 
Sakonnet Point lighthouse, whose boat had capsized 
while he was on his way to the mainland. 

While the rescuers were at work, the Fall River 
operator did not remain idle. There was still another 
duty to perform. Calling a physician who lived near 
the scene of the accident, she told him what had 
happened. When the rescuer’s boat came ashore the 
doctor was there to meet it, prepared to aid in reviving 
the exhausted man. 

If it had not been for the quick wit and efficient 
efforts of the Fall River and Little Compton operators, 
probably the lighthouse keeper would have perished. 


The other day the Wabash Railroad freight houses 
in Chicago were destroyed by fire, with a loss of 
$500,000 worth of property and two lives. Miss Mae 
Donnelly was the telephone operator at the buildings, 
and though the little room in which she worked was 
soon wrapped in flames, she heroically remained at her 
post and would have been burned to death, had not 
her screams brought rescuers just in the nick of time. 
Before she fainted away. Miss Donnelly called the fire 
department, notified the officials of the road, and urged 
every yardmaster she could reach to send engines and 
move out the freight cars. The engines came and re- 
moved to places of safety nearly a million dollars’ worth 
of freight, thus averting further loss. It was an exhi- 
bition of coolness and presence of mind worthy of a 
veteran soldier . — On Telephone Duty. 

140 


CORRECT METHOD OF USING THE 

TELEPHONE 

How we may help those who render us this service: 

Before Calling 

Be sure the number is correct before calling. Refer 
to the latest directory. 

When Calling, 

Remove the receiver from the hook. When you do 
this a tiny light springs up beside your number on the 
switchboard in the telephone exchange. 

When the operator asks, ''Number, please?'' reply 
distinctly, giving the name and number wanted. 
Always give number in units — in other words, separate 
the figures thus: Three-seven-one-nine. 

Speak into the mouthpiece in a clear tone of voice, 
slowly and distinctly. Do not shout. 

To attract the operator's special attention, move the 
telephone hook slowly up and down two or three 
times, and then listen. 

Do not replace the receiver on the hook until the 
conversation is finished. To do so is to signal the 
operator for disconnection. 

Answering, 

Answer calls promptly and cordially. Failure to do 
this keeps your caller waiting and may result in the 
loss of an important message. 

In replying give your name; for instance, "Robert 
White speaking," rather than "Well" or "Hello." 

141 


When the conversation is finished, replace the 
receiver on the hook. Failure to do this may cause 
inconvenience and delay to other subscribers. 

Free Messages 

On calls from private or public telephones no charge 
is made for the following calls: 

1. An alarm of fire. 

2. To summon police assistance. 

3. To notify local hospitals in case of accident, sick- 
ness, or similar emergency. 

The person calling must explain to the operator that 
the call is an emergency one. 

Information 

Numbers of persons who have installed telephones 
since the last directory was issued may be obtained by 
calling ''Information'' and giving the person's name 
and address. 

Telephone Manners 

Respond with the same courtesy as you would if 
speaking to a person face-to-face, instead of telephone- 
to-telephone. 

The human voice is so wonderful that it will carry 
a smile on the telephone if you put the smile into your 
voice. 

A genial telephone voice promotes successful business 
and real friendship. 

Good telephone service depends largely upon the 
cheerful co-operation of the persons calling and the 
operator. 


142 


QUESTIONS 

I 

About how far does the whistle on a railroad send its sound? 

If you should shout in the loudest possible voice, about how 
far away do you think you could be heard? 

Why are sounding boards used in large buildings? 

How far will the telephone carry a voice? 

II 

Will you look up the exact meaning of the word telephone? 

Tell the story of the telephone briefly. 

Suppose a person who died a hundred years ago should sud- 
denly come to life today, what do you think would seem most 
wonderful to him — the automobile, the airship, the electric car, 
or the telephone? 

III 

How is the school telephone one of our useful servants? 

Name some of the people who serve you when you talk over 
the telephone. 

How is the telephone operator one of our most helpful public 
servants? 

How does the telephone save money, property, life? 

Have you ever visited a telephone exchange? 

Can you tell a little about the work of the operator? 

Suppose you are calling Local 3741’^ — how shall you ask the 
operator for the number? 

Have you any idea how much wire is used by the telephone 
companies in the great network of wires in your city? 

An automatic switchboard has been invented, by means of 
which the caller makes his own connection without the aid of an 
operator. Can you tell something about it? 


143 


ALADDIN^S LAMP 

You have read of Aladdin in the Arabian Nights, 
haven't you? 

The boys and girls in a large city of the United 
States today live just such a fairy-tale life. 

Do you wish for a drink of water? 

"'Rub-your-lamp," or turn a tap. Out flows a 
clear stream of water, with not so much effort on your 
part as Aladdin made in rubbing his lamp. 

Do you wish light? 

''Rub-yom-lamp," or turn a key — you have gas or 
electric light, like day. Aladdin could not have 
imagined such light. 

Do you wish to talk with people miles away? 

/'Rub-your-lamp," or put your ear and mouth to 
the telephone; you hear and speak with people across 
space. 

Aladdin's magic servants could not have done that 
for him. 

Who does it for you? 



What Does This Picture Show? 
144 




J <> H K> '■ , 

♦pRiini,' ' ; 

11 


Tell the Story op This Picture 




PART II 


COMMUNITY INTEREST 

The Neighborhood. The City Beautiful. 
Safety First. 



THE NEIGHBORHOOD 

The Public School. The Playground. The Library. 
Other Places of General Interest. 



THE PUBLIC SCHOOL 

1. The Children's Building 

One day a stranger stopped a boy on his way to 
school and said, want to find the children's building. 
Can you direct me to it?" 

^'Yes, sir, I can," the boy replied, and quickly 
showed him the way to the schoolhouse. 

If this question were asked in any other city or town 



or village in America the answer would be the same. 
Public schools are everywhere, and everywhere they 
belong to the children. Sometimes they are called 
common schools. This is because they are free to all 
children. It makes no difference whether the parents 
are rich or poor; the school doors swing open freely 
to every child in the United States. 

The right to enter the public school and receive an 
education is a right that comes to them by birth. 

151 


Every child born in the United States has a birth- 
right of freedom. So likewise every child born in the 
United States has a birthright of education. Even 
foreign children who live here are entitled to a free 
education, simply because they live in a free country. 
Is not this a wonderful privilege? 

2. The Children's Army 

Did you ever think how many school children there 
are in the United States? The census shows that there 
are more than twenty-two millions enrolled in the 
common schools. What a great army of children 
that is. 

Let us try to get an idea of how many twenty-two 
millions are. You have read about the Lincoln 
Highway. This great roadway stretches across the 
country from the Atlantic to the Pacific Ocean. It is 
named after Abraham Lincoln. The Lincoln Highway 
starts at New York and runs across New Jersey, 
Pennsylvania, Ohio, Indiana, Illinois, Iowa, Nebraska, 
Colorado, Wyoming, Utah, Nevada and California, 
until it reaches San Francisco, 3500 miles away. 

If all the public school children were formed in 
single file on one side of the Lincoln Highway, each 
standing close to the next one, the line would stretch 
across the continent to the Pacific Ocean and far back 
on the other side of the road. 

Suppose that this great army of children were 
brought together in one city. It would require a 
city four times the size of New York, which is' the 
largest city in the country, to hold them. 

152 


Their teachers alone number more than a half-million, 
and would fill twelve cities like Lincoln, Nebraska. 

This will help you to understand to what a great 
army of children you belong. 

3. Armories and Forts 

Do you know what an armory is? Perhaps you have 
visited one. An armory is a building where arms are 
kept and where soldier-citizens drill. Here soldiers are 
taught the use of weapons or arms, and are trained for 
future service. When the time of danger comes they 
are prepared. 

The schools are something like armories. They are 
armories where great armies of children are trained 
to be useful citizens. We have no kings or despots to 
rule us in this free country. So we have to learn to 
govern ourselves. The best place to learn this is in 
school. The school is the armory where we learn to 
love knowledge and hate ignornance, to do what is 
right and to shun what is wrong, to be loyal to our 
country and our flag. 

Sometimes the public school is compared to a fort. 
You know the names of some of our famous forts — 
Fort Mifflin, Fort Adams, Fort Sheridan, Fortress 
Monroe. Perhaps you can think of others. Forts are 
erected by the national government to defend the 
country. 

Public schools are something like forts; only they 
are erected to protect our country against ignorance 
and crime. Armory and fort — do you see what a 
wonderful place your school is? 

153 


4. Citizens Who Will Rule the Future 


Is not the school army a splendid army? Think 
a moment of the citizens in its ranks. Think what the 
boys and girls in this army have to do when they 
grow up. 

Who will be president some day? 

Who will be our future congressmen, governors of 
states, and officers of the government? 

Who will manage the railroads, telegraphs, tele- 
phones, waterworks, and post-offices? 

Who will be the teachers, doctors, nurses, clergymen, 
writers of books, and workers of the future? 

You know the answer. They will be the children who 
are now attending our public schools. Some day they 
will be called upon to fill these or equally important 
positions. 

The public schools are now training them to be ready. 
Will you be ready when your turn comes? 

^'The public school is the fortress of American 
liberty.'' Can you explain the meaning of that 
saying? 



154 


QUESTIONS 

When you grow up, what do you want to be? 

Do you want to be able to earn good wages? 

Which man would you rather be — Spencer who left school 
before reaching the seventh grade, or Henry who “finished” 
grammar school, or Elbert who was graduated from high school? 

Which woman would you rather be — Nina who left school 
when ten years old, Anna who studied until she was fifteen, or 
Eunice who was graduated from the high school? Why? 

Do you know that only six out of every ten children in some of 
our large city schools ever reach the seventh grade, and only two 
reach even the first year of high school? 

Why are their teachers sorry for them? 

What is meant by “Knowledge is power”? 

What do educated people have which the uneducated do not 
have? 

Yes, a better chance. Why? 


MY COUNTRY’S GIFT 

She gives to me an open school 
That’s governed by the golden rule, 
And love of truth that makes us free- 
This my country gives to me. 

A school that trains my hands to do, 
My heart to keep steadfast and true. 
My mind to think, my eyes to see — 
This my country gives to me. 

A school in which, by simple plan. 
She trains the true American; 

And this she asks that I will be, 

For her precious gift to me. 

155 



BEFORE THE DAYS OF PUBLIC SCHOOLS 

You are so accustomed to going to school that you 
will be surprised to learn that children did not always 
go to school. In the early days of America there were 
no free schools such as we now have. Of course, there 
were schools in the larger towns, but they were not 
free. They were private schools, and only those 
children whose parents could afford to pay the teachers 
could attend them. As most of the people of the 
colonies were very poor, but few children were able to 
attend private schools. 

With no free schools, few teachers, and few books, 
it is not strange that many boys and girls grew to be 
men and women without even learning to read, or to 
write their own names. Think of not being able to 
sign one's own name! When a man who could not 
156 


write sold a piece of land and wished to sign his name 
to the deed, this is what he had to do. Someone who 
had had school advantages wrote his name for him. 
The man would then sign a cross like the letter X 
under his name on the paper. This cross was called 
his X mark. It stood for the signer's name, and 
made it lawful. 

Even in these days of free education, there are 
many people in our country who cannot read, and who 
have to sign their names in this way. 

As you may suppose, the free people of America 
did not like to have their children grow up in ignorance. 
As far back as 1637 the colony of Massachusetts passed 
a law that every fifty families must form a common, or 
free, school. In time, all the states established public 
or common schools. 


"'A sound mind in a sound body" is the birthright 
of every American child. 


A NATION'S BUILDERS 
Not gold, but only men can make 
A people great and strong — 

Men who, for truth and honor's sake. 
Stand fast and suffer long. 

Brave men, who work while others sleep. 
Who dare while others fiy — 

They build a nation's pillars deep 
And lift them to the sky. 

— Ralph Waldo Emerson 


157 


WHY SCHOOLS ARE FREE 


The people tax themselves to pay for free schools. 
As you know, a tax is a sum of money paid by each 
citizen for the support of the 
government. The tax for the 
support of the schools is called 
a school tax. With these taxes 
school houses are built in 
every city and village of the 
country. School books are 
bought, teachers are trained, 
and the school doors are 
opened for all. To do this 
took a long time in such a 
great country as ours, and it 
was not until after the Civil 
War that free schools were 
finally established in all the 
states in the Union. 

Today America offers a free 
education to all the children 
of all the people. We have 
schools everywhere, teachers 
everywhere. All the citizens 
-share in the support of the 

WHY hasn’t THIS GIRL A BETTER schools uud ull inBY shure iu 

CHANCE ? 1 . 1 

their benefits. 

The Colonial children were not to blame because 
they were not educated. Today the excuse is taken 
away. If boys and girls grow up in ignorance it shows 
158 



that they have neglected their opportunity. They have 
refused to take the free gift of education which their 
country offers them. 


QUESTIONS 

I 

The girl whose picture is shown on page 158 is one of the 
many girls who know only enough to run errands. 

Do you imagine that she “finished’’ grammar school? High 
school? In what grade do you suppose she was when she left 
school to earn her living? 

How much do you think she is paid a week? 

Why doesn’t she have a better chance? 

Did a person who could not read or write ever ask you to read 
or write a letter? 

Were you glad or sorry that you could do it? 

Do you realize that in the years to come you will be just as 
glad for every bit of knowledge you have gained? 

II 

Where is your school? 

Draw a map of the streets you travel when you come to school. 

Do you think you could study so well if you were alone in 
your schoolroom with no other boys and girls doing the same 
things? 

Do you feel proud when your room has the best record for 
good work? 

Could your room hold the best record if there were many 
“pull-backs” or children who do not hke to help? 

How can this school make a good record? 

Suppose you were a teacher, how would you want the boys 
and girls to act? 

Will you bring to the next lesson period some suggestions for 
a classroom motto? 


159 


Ill 

Is the high school a public school? 

To whom do public schools belong? 

Why do we have public schools? 

Who pay for the public schools? 

Do you owe them anything? 

Name some things you can do for your school. 

What is the name of your school? 

What can you tell about how it came to be so named? 

Tell about some important people who have visited the school. 
Where is the nearest high school? 

How many public schools are there in your city? 

How many children attend these schools? 

How many children attend your school? 


TEACHER AND PUPIL 
Next after their parents, the best friends of boys and 
girls are their teachers. Teachers help their pupils to 
prepare for the future by teaching them:— 

How to study; 

To love the truth; 

To act with courtesy; 

To be loyal and helpful; 

To love their country. 

Pupils help their teachers by being: 

Studious and anxious to learn; 

Truthful in everything; 

Courteous to all; 

Loyal and helpful to others; 

Patriotic. 

Name some other ways in which teachers and pupils 
• can help each other. 


160 



America Needs Educated Citizens 




WIDER USE OF SCHOOL BUILDINGS 

School houses should not only be open in the day- 
time for the teaching of children; but in the evenings 
they should be open for the use of all the people of the 
community. In them should be held the meetings 
which are of interest to all the families of the neighbor- 
hood. Here the people should meet to hear lectures, 
to study, and to talk over public questions. 

The school building should be used for social meet- 
ings, like receptions to the teachers; for civic meetings, 
like the election of the school board; for ^'good-time'' 
or recreational meetings. 

Auditoriums, workshops, and playroom spaces are 
needed for these purposes, and school houses should be 
planned and built with this thought in mind. 

With such buildings the school will become one of 
the greatest helps in the life of the people of the com- 
munity, a real center of community interest and public 
spirit. It will become a common meeting place where 
community ideals are born, and where true democracy 
exists. 



Home and School Should be Hand-in-Hand to Help Each Other 
162 


QUESTIONS 

I 

Do the public schools belong to the children only? 

How can they help mothers and fathers? 

Do you have a ‘‘Home and School League”, or a “Parent- 
Teachers’ Association,” in your school? 

Tell how such leagues help pupils, parents, teachers. 

Every home in the community should be interested in the school 
and what it is doing. The school should be interested in every 
home. Together they will make the community a better place. 
Name some of the ways in which they help each other. 

Is there an evening school in your school building? 

How does an evening school help bring the school and the 
home together? 

Many country schools are ungraded, and all the younger and 
older children are in one large room. Tell of some advantages 
the graded city school has over the country school. 

In many country school houses meetings are held for mothers 
from time to time. Here they are taught the best methods of 
canning and preserving. Sometimes the evenings are devoted to 
showing moving pictures. Does your school help your home in 
some such way? 


II 

Name some reasons why you are glad that you did not live in 
the days when there were no public schools. 

How do the public schools of the United States help to make 
it the best country in the world for boys and girls? 

If a boy or girl is compelled by necessity to leave day-school, 
how can he or she obtain a further education? 

Do you think it would be as easy to study in the evening as in 
the daytime? 

What is the school law of your state concerning child labor? 
Why is it a wise and helpful law? 

163 


STAY IN SCHOOL 


True education makes every one a better and a 
more useful citizen. At the same time it increases 
one's earning ability. Lack of education never helps, 
but always hinders success. If young people under- 
stood this better, they would seek to obtain the best 
education possible. They would seldom make the 
serious mistake of leaving school too early; a mistake 
which they are likely to regret when it is too late. 

A table prepared by the United States Bureau of 
Education compares the wages of a group of children 
who left school at fourteen, at the end of the grammar 
school, with another group who left at eighteen, at the 
end of the high school. This table shows that at the age 
of twenty-five the average high school boy was earning 
over $900 a year more than the average grammar school 
boy of the same age. In total wages up to that time 
the high school boy had earned over $2,000 more than 
the grammar school boy. When both had reached the 
age of twenty-five, the one who remained in school 
until eighteen had received four years more schooling 
and more wages; the one who left school at fourteen 
had received four years less schooling and less wages. 

The time and che opportunity to go to school belong 
to youth. If time and opportunity are lost or wasted 
they can never be regained. Those who neglect 
school are losers in pocket, in health, in education, in 
opportunity; and their country loses the greater ser- 
vice they otherwise could give. In every way it pays 
to train for the future. 


164 


THE PLAYGROUND 
Fair Play 

I 

Arthur Woods, who was at one time Police Com- 
missioner of New York, is a man who believes in fair 
play. All American boys and girls who have any 
interest in the affairs of their country will be glad to 
read what he ^'wished for New Year's'' not long ago. 

wish," he said, '^that every man and boy in the 
United States would make a New Year's resolution. 
And I wish that the resolution might be this: 

. 'I will play the game fairly and according to its 
rules. I will play hard and keep on playing, whether 
I am hurt or tired or not. I will remember that I am 
one of a team and that I must work for the good of that 
team and not merely for my own selfish interests. I 
will be absolutely fair to the other side, but I will make 
them fight for every inch they gain.' 

''Every boy and every man knows that there is no 
fun in a game unless you have rules and play strictly 
according to them. A man is a poor sport not merely 
if he cheats at games or plays foul in football, but if 
he fails in any way to keep the laws of the community 
in which he lives." 


II 

"Why is there any law?" Mr. Woods continued. 
"How could we avoid laws? Suppose we were in a 
group of five hundred people cast ashore on some island 
165 



Public Playgrounds 





in the Pacific Ocean, far from the mainland and out 
of the path of steamers. Let us suppose there is plenty 
of fresh water on the island, that fruit and vegetables 
grow in profusion, that there are enough wild animals 
to supply us with meat. We are perfectly happy in 
this isolated paradise — we have no need of laws and 
courts and policemen. 

'"But don’t we need these things, after all? Let us 
think what would happen. You see a big juicy cocoa- 
nut at the top of a tree. You clamber up the trunk 
after it. You reach it and it falls to the ground. I 
happen to be walking by. I pick up the cocoanut and 
start away with it. 

"'That is my cocoanut,’ you say. 'Give it back 
to me.’ 

" 'It is my cocoanut,’ I reply. 'I’ve got it.’ 

"Well, you try to take the cocoanut away from me, 
and there is a fight. Your friends join in to help you 
and my friends join in to help me. And the peace of 
that island paradise is pretty thoroughly broken up. 

"At last, all five hundred of us get together and 
resolve that there shall be no fighting over cocoanuts 
or anything else. And there you have a law established 
already.” 

Ill 

"So now we have laws in our community. Two 
days later you step on the tail of my pet monkey. I 
find fault and soon we are fighting again. Now we 
have made a law against fighting, so you and I should 
not be fighting, but who is there to stop us? The 
167 


whole community cannot assemble and stop us. 
Instead, some one man does the work of the whole 
community and stops our fight. In doing this he 
becomes our first policeman. 

''Now we have law and police. How do we get a 
court? Well, some one says that the policeman hit 
him over the head with a club. The policeman says 
that he did nothing of the sort. Who is to decide which 
is right? Surely there must be a judge to question the 
person accused and the one who accuses him and the 
witnesses. So we have our court established. 

"Now our island community has its laws and police 
and court. And so it continues to be a place wherein 
people may live together in safety and happiness. 

"The reason for obeying the law is that the man 
who does not obey the law is a poor sport. He is selfish, 
and plays the game regardless of the rules of the team."' 

QUESTIONS 

Do these stories help to explain the rules of your school? 

Write some rules which you think would be good in your 
playground. 

Why are laws and rules a help toward ‘^air play?^^ 

How would you treat anyone who refused to play fair? 


True liberty consists in the privilege of enjoying 
our own rights, not in the destruction of the rights of 
others. The love of true liberty, of justice, and of 
fair play is implanted deeply in the heart of every 
true American. 


168 


THE AMERICAN BOY 

Everybody knows about Theodore Roosevelt, and 
hundreds of thousands of Americans have been made 
better by his splendid fights for what is right. Here 
is what he said about the American boy: 

''What we have a right to expect of the American boy 
is that he shall turn out to be a good American man. 
The boy can best become a good 
man by being a good boy — not a 
goody-goody boy, but just a plain 
good boy. 'Good,' in the largest 
sense, should include whatever is 
fine, straightforward, clean, brave 
and manly. The best boys I know 
— the best men I know — are good at 
their studies or their business, fear- 
less and stalwart, hated and feared 
by all that is wicked and depraved, incapable of sub- 
mitting to wrongdoing, and equally incapable of being 
aught but tender to the weak and helpless. 

"Of course, the effect that a thoroughly manly, 
thoroughly straight and upright boy can have upon the 
companions of his own age, and upon those who are 
younger, is incalculable. If he is not thoroughly 
manly, then they will not respect him, and his good 
qualities will count for but little; while, of course, if 
he is mean, cruel or wicked, then his physical strength 
and force of mind merely make him so much the more 
objectionable a member of society. 

"He cannot do good work if he is not strong and does 
169 



not try with his whole heart and soul to count in any 
contest; and his strength will be a curse to himself and 
to every one else if he does not have a thorough com- 
mand over himself and over his own evil passions, and 
if he does not use his strength on the side of decency, 
justice and fair dealing. 

In short, in life, as in a football game, the principle 
to follow is: Hit the line hard; don't foul and don't 
shirk, but hit the line hard!" 


PUBLIC PLAYGROUNDS 
Play is a necessary part of education. The boy or 
girl who would study well must learn to play well. 
That is why all school houses have playgrounds around 
them. But school playgrounds are not enough, even 
when they are kept open all the year round, as they 
should be. Young people who have left school, and 
older people as well, need opportunities to play; and 
so playgrounds and recreation centers have been opened 
in most of the cities of the United States. These keep 
the children off the dangerous streets and provide a 
place where young and old can play and exercise in 
safety. The best playgrounds have swings, slides, 
see-saws, sand boxes, a baseball diamond, basket-ball 
courts, and many other means of recreation; and 
a play teacher who directs the games. 

Play in the open air promotes good health, and 
teaches co-operation and loyalty, which is another way 
of saying that people who learn to play together will 
become better neighbors and better citizens. 

170 


QUESTIONS 

I 

Did you ever watch a puppy or kitten at play? Why is a colt 
“frisky?” 

How does play help all young beings to grow? 

Why should every school provide for play, or recreation, for the 
pupils? 

Name some of the games you play in your school yard. 

Which do you like best? Why? 

Why do you not like to play with children who do not “play 
fair”? What is fair play? 

What kind of game do you imagine George Washington or 
Abraham Lincoln played? What makes you think so? 

Name some other noted people who you think would have 
liked a “square” game. 

II 

Can you tell something about what happens during the sum- 
mer in the playground? 

Name some other places besides the school yard where children 
play together. 



THE LIBRARY 

The Story of the Little Giants 
I 

Once upon a time, long years ago, there lived a great 
magician, so an old tale runs, who was always wishing 
and looking for something more wonderful to possess. 
He lived in a castle which was decorated with precious 
stones. Rich silken draperies hung upon the walls, 
and thick rugs covered the polished floors. So he did 
not wish for riches, but he did long for fame. 

One day a stranger arrived in the town where the 
magician lived. This man had traveled far and wide. 
The magician wanted to hear about some of his adven- 
tures, so he invited him to the castle for a visit. The 
next day after dinner the two men were seated in a 
great green and gold room talking. 

have indeed had many adventures and have met 
many interesting people,'' the stranger was saying. 
'"But I think I never found any people more interesting 
than a company of good giants who live in a forest 
high on the side of the Myth Mountains. The most 
remarkable thing about them is that some one of them 
knows the answer to any question you can ask." 

'^Could one of them tell the names of all the animals 
in the world and describe them?" asked the magician. 

'"I am certain that at least one could, if not more," 
answered the stranger. 

''Could another tell all about the herbs that heal 
the sick?" 


172 


''They can tell about almost anything in the world/' 
the stranger said. 

"I should think they would be the richest of men/' 
said the magician. "People would be willing to pay 
much to gain knowledge from them." 

"They do not seem to think about riches; they seem 
only glad to help others to find out what they want 
to know." 

The magician then questioned the stranger closely 



as to the exact place where the giants lived, and soon 
began to talk of something else. After the stranger 
had gone the magician prepared for a long journey. 


II 

Perhaps you have guessed where he was going. Yes; 
to the home of the giants. He took with him many 
servants, and many camels laden with rich tapestries 
and rugs. Many, many miles the magician and his 
servants traveled until finally they came to a mountain 
173 



near the giants' home. The magician ordered his 
servants to unpack his treasures and spread them about 
an immense cave in the side of the mountain. As 
soon as this was done he sent a messenger inviting al! 
the giants to a party in his cave. 

The giants talked the matter over and decided to 
accept the invitation; but fearing that a man of 
ordinary size would be frightened if all should arrive 
at once, they planned to go one at a time. When the 
first giant was shown into the great cave, he saw the 
magician seated on a high throne — so high that it 
brought his head level with that of the giant. 

After welcoming his guest, the magician told him 
that he had heard that he and his brother giants knew 
almost everything worth knowing in the world. 

"'WTiat wonderful thing do you know?" the magician 
asked him. 

'"I know the names of all the animals in the world, 
and can tell you about the habits of each of them," 
answered the giant. 

'^Very good," said the magician, and he waved his 
magic wand, crying, ''Abracadabra! Grow smaller! 
Grow smaller ! Grow smaller ! " 

Down, down, down went the giant. When he had 
grown small enough the magician seized him and put 
him into a bottle. He labeled the bottle "Animals," 
and put it on a shelf. 

By this time the next giant was at the door. 

"What wonderful thing do you know?" the magician 
asked him. 

"I can tell about all the people who have lived on 
174 



HISTORX. 


^PictNE: 


Can You Tell the Story of This Picture? 



this earth; about their customs and laws, their dress 
and manner of living,’' replied the giant. 

''Splendid!” cried the magician, "Abracadabra! 
Grow smaller! Grow smaller! Grow smaller!” and 
when the giant was little enough he seized him and 
put him into a bottle. 

He labeled that bottle "History,” and put it on the 
shelf. 

Similar treatment was given to the other giants as 
they entered — those who could cure the sick, tell 
interesting stories, explain how to build large buildings, 
speak different languages, and so forth. When all the 
giants had been bottled and labeled the servants of the 
magician packed them carefully, and they were carried 
to the magician’s home on the backs of his camels. 

Whenever the magician desired to know anything 
he would lift down the proper bottle, uncork it and let 
the giant out, make him grow larger with his magic 
wand, ask him the question and receive the correct 
answer; make him grow smaller, and finally put him 
back into the bottle. 

So the magician became famous for his knowledge 
and power. 


You can be that magician — how? 


Who learns and learns and learns. 

And acts not what he knows. 

Is one who plows and plows and plows, 
But never sows. 


176 


How Books Grew 
I 

Long years ago, even many hundreds of years before 
the birth of Christ, it is known that there were 
libraries in the lands of Egypt and 
Assyria. 

Perhaps you know that the ancient 
cities of those faraway lands have 
been buried for hundreds of years, 
and you are wondering how we have 
found out that they had libraries. 

Men who were curious to know 
how the people of those olden days 
used to live, dug up some of their 
cities and in this way they have learned many things. 

Among the interesting things which they discovered 
are the libraries, for many old books have been un- 
earthed. You would think that the books would have 
been ruined after being buried all 
these years, would you not? Strange 
as it may seem, some of them are as 
perfect as in the days when they 
were written; for the books of those 
days were very different from our 
books. In the first place, they 
were not printed on paper, for the 
people did not have paper. They 
used other materials for their books. 
The Egyptians engraved their stories on slabs, or 
tablets, of stone. Sometimes they used stone columns 

13 177 




or the walls of their monu- 
ments. These were their 
books. 

Perhaps you have seen 
the great obelisk or monu- 
ment brought from Egypt 
to our country. This obe- 
lisk stands in Central Park 
in New York City and is 
known by the name of 
Cleopatra's Needle. It is 
a shaft, or column, of rose- 
red granite sixty-nine feet 
high, and weighs two hun- 
dred tons. It is more 
than three thousand years 
old. On the sides are 
strange looking pictures 
and figures, called hiero- 
glyphics, which tell stories about 
events that happened thousands of 
years ago. 

The Assyrians pressed their writ- 
ings upon tablets of clay, which they 
hardened by baking. The early 
Greeks and Romans used tablets of 
ivory and metal and wood. You 
can imagine how much the people 
needed more convenient books. So 
as the years passed they tried to find something lighter 
in weight, and some quicker method of writing than 
178 





engraving their words upon the heavy materials which 
they used. 

II 

Now there grew along the banks of the rivers in 
Egypt a plant called papyrus. The 
Egyptians found that they could 
separate the strong layers of the 
triangular stem of the plant and 
weave them into thin sheets. Then 
they found that they could make 
marks upon the sheets, so they 
thought that papyrus would be just 
the thing to use for their books. 

The Egyptians made their ink out 
of animal charcoal. When a long story was written, the 
lengths of papyrus sheets were fastened together and 
rolled upon a stick. Sometimes the 
books measure yards when unrolled. 
Later, people used parchment made 
of dried sheepskin in the same way. 

Many such rolls, or books, have 
been found. The earliest books 
which seem like ours at all are the 
old wooden ones of the Greeks and 
Romans. They were made by cover- 
ing two wooden tablets with wax, 
and writing into the wax with a sharp pointed instru- 
ment called a stylus. The two tablets were fastened 
together with wires. 

How much more convenient a roll of papyrus or 
179 




parchment must have seemed than tablets of wood, 
stone, or clay; how much easier to lift to its place on 
the shelves. 

As you may imagine, papyrus and parchment were 
expensive, and when people wanted new volumes they 
often erased the writing on one roll and used it again. 
In this way much interesting history has been lost. 

Ill 

Can you see how our own word ''paper'' comes from 
the word "papyrus?" 

Do you know what our paper is made from? 

It was not until nearly a thousand years after the 
birth of Christ that paper was made from cotton. 
Later, in Europe paper was made from linen. Because 
cotton and linen were more plentiful and paper was 
more easily made than parchment, 
more books were written. Although 
the paper was of poor quality, rough 
and brown in color, the books were 
very beautiful. 

The writing was all done by hand, 
chiefly by monks. If you have ever 
visited a museum where some of the 
early manuscript books are preserved, 
you were delighted with the beautiful 
capital letters used for headings, beginnings of chapters 
and paragraphs. It often took a monk a year to copy 
one book in this way. The price of such books was, 
therefore, very high, and few except the wealthy were 
able to buy them. 



180 


About fifteen hundred years after Christ was bom 
people learned how to print books from wooden types. 
Before this time every book was written by hand. Of 
course, only one could be done at a 
time. 

When books were printed, hun- 
dreds of volumes could be made in 
the length of time it would have 
taken to write one by hand, and of 
course they did not cost as much. 

So you see that the invention of 
printing made it possible for many 
more people to own books. 

The first printed books were the Bible and other 
religious volumes which the people gladly bought. In 
this way education spread among the people who 
eagerly sought for more books. But books were still 
so costly that only the well-to-;do 
could have them. For this reason 
public libraries were found so helpful 
that they were established in most of 
the large cities of Europe toward the 
end of the fifteenth century. 

IV 

The idea of having libraries was 
not new, as you know; but, until 
after the invention of printing, the books were so 
expensive that only the very wealthy homes and the 
monasteries could have a large collection of books. 

No one knows how many books there are in the 
181 





world today, but we do know that many millions of 
books are to be found in the large libraries of Europe 
and America. In the National Library in Paris there 
are over 3,500,000 books; the British Museum Library 
in London has more than 2,000,000 books; and our 
own Congressional Library in Washington has over 



A Town Library 


2,000,000 books. The cities of New York and Boston 
each have over 1,000,000 volumes in their libraries. 

All good books lift our thoughts to better things. 
Books are among the best treasures handed down to us 
by the people who have lived and died, for in them are 
the lessons which it took ages to learn. We can learn 
many of these lessons by reading, and then go on to 
find out new things to help ourselves and the children 
who will live after us. 


182 


QUESTIONS 

I 


What do you like most to receive for a Christmas gift? 

Will you try to collect books to start a library of your own? 
What kind of books do you prefer to read? 

Have you read any book more than once? Do you own it? 
Would you enjoy owning it? 


II 

What can you tell about the first public library in your city? 
Where is the nearest library to your school? 

When did you last visit it? 

What book did you take out? 

How does a person become a member of the library? 

If you are not already a member will you sign a card this 
week and take out a book? 

Can you explain how to find the book you want? 

When you do this, how does it help the librarian? 

In what other ways can we help the librarian? 

At what times are the story telling hours in your library? 

When you go to the library next time, will you read the story 
of the invention of printing? 


III 

How should a borrowed article be treated? 

Does this apply to books from the free public library? 

How does such care of borrowed books help the librarian? 
How does it help other people? 

Are you not always glad when a new book is handed to you for 
your school work? 

How should such a book look at the end of the term? 

IV 

To whom does the library belong? 

Who support it? 


183 


If it were your very own library, how would you wish people to 
aet when they went there to read? 

How would you wish them to treat the books? 

Are you not one of the partners who own the Free Public 
Library? 

How do libraries help people who are through with going to 
school to continue their education? 


A List of Books You Will Enjoy Reading 

Alice in Wonderland Lewis Carroll 

Water Babies Charles Kingsley 

Dame Wiggins of Lee John Ruskin 

Grandfather’s Chair Nathaniel Hawthorne 

The Cricket on the Hearth Charles Dickens 

The Gold Bug Edgar Allan Poe 

Gulliver’s Travels Jonathan Swift 

The Crofton Boy Harriet Martin 

Ten Boys Who Traveled on the Road 

from Long Ago to Now Jane Andrews 

Little Lame Prince Dinah Mnlock Craik 

At the Back of the North Wind George Macdonald 

Animal Story Book Ernest Thompson Seton 

Story of a Bad Boy Thomas Bailey Aldrich 

The Heroes Charles Kingsley 

Robinson Crusoe Daniel Defoe 

True Bear Stories .Joaquin Miller 

Squirrels and Other Fur-Bearers John Burroughs 

Treasure Island Robert Louis Stevenson 

In the Boyhood of Lincoln Hezekiah Butterworth 

Tales Out of School ' Frank Stockton 

Hoosier Schoolmaster Edward Eggleston 

Story of King Arthur and His Knights . .Howard Pyle 

Sarah Crewe Frances Hodgson Burnett 

The Mary Frances Books Jane Eayre Fryer 


184 


OTHER PLACES OF GENERAL INTEREST 

Besides the school, the playground and library, there 
are many other places in the community in which 
everyone should take interest and pride. 

There are public buildings, like the city hall and post 
office; the police and fire stations which look after 
our safety; the churches where people gather for wor- 
ship; the factories, offices and stores where the people 
are employed; the banks to care for our money and 
savings; and the hospitals to nurse the sick. There are 
also many beauty spots, such as handsome streets, 
squares, lakes and parks. 

A British officer who spent much time with the 
American soldiers in France said, ^'1 like the young 
American's deep affection for his country, and his 
determination to boost everything connected with 
her." To illustrate, he tells this story. '"One day I was 
waiting in a French village for an American staff car 
which was being sent for me from American head- 
quarters at Chaumont. I found a car standing at the 
corner of the street. Thinking it might be from head- 
quarters, I asked the chauffeur, 'Where are you from?' 
He sat up and replied all in one breath, 'Sir, I am 
from Marion, Ohio, the greatest steam-shovel pro- 
ducing center in the world!' That is what I call the 
right spirit," added the officer. 

The young American was proud of his native place, 
and therefore showed the right spirit in his reply. 
Boys and girls who take interest and pride in their 
own community show the same spirit. 

185 



/ 


THE CITY BEAUTIFUL 


Trees, Flowers, Clean-up Week, Public Squares 
and Parks 


The City Beautiful is your city, as clean and health- 
ful and happy and prosperous as you can possibly 
hope for it to become. Your city will some day be a 
City Beautiful if all its citizens work together to make 
it such a delightful place. 




TREES FOR OUR CITY 
Charney's Weed* 

I 

Do you remember the story of the French nobleman, 
named Charney, who was arrested and imprisoned in 
a great fortress in the southern part of France? He 
had done no wrong, but his enemies were very powerful 
and had taken this means of getting him out of 
their way. 

How wretched and unhappy he must have been in 
his lonely prison cell. There were no books in the 
prison to read and no pens and paper with which to 
write. There was no living person to talk with except 
the grim jailer who brought his food. 

A winding stone staircase led from his cell into a 
little courtyard. Here he was allowed to exercise 
a short time each day. You can imagine how terribly 
he suffered, for he had nothing to do to help pass the 
time. 

The weary days dragged by, and Charney grew 
more and more despairing and downcast. 

One day he was walking to and fro in the little 
court', counting for the hundredth time the flagstones 
which covered the ground. Hope had gone from 
his heart. He wondered that he could live when 
his suffering was so terrible. The breath of spring was 
in the air. He could smell its soft sweetness as it 


* Adapted from the story of “Picciola/’ by Joseph Xavier Boniface, a 
famous French author. 


189 


blew into the prison yard from the great free out-of- 
doors, but it brought no hope to the lonely prisoner. 

II 

Suddenly he stood still, for he saw something between 
two stones which made his heart beat fast. It was a 
little mound of earth. You see, 
Charney imagined for one wild 
moment that some of his friends 
were trying to dig an underground 
passage to his cell to help him 
escape, but he soon laughed at 
himself for having such a foolish 
hope. 

He wondered, however, how the 
little pile of earth came there. 
Stooping down, he saw that it 
was not made by an insect or 
animal, but by a pale little plant 
which was struggling to break 
through the hard soil. 

Charney was about to crush 
the weed with his heel when a 
new thought made him stop. 

'Hf such a weak, tiny thing can 
struggle to live, why would a man 
give up hope?'' he asked himself. 
So he let it live. 

The next day the plant had grown stronger. It 
was taller, and its leaves were quite green instead of 
pale and sickly looking. 



190 


Chamey began to have something to live for. Most 
of his time was spent at the little window of his cell 
watching the weed grow. 

One day he saw the jailer, who was crossing the 
yard, almost step on the little plant. Chamey spoke 
to him about it. 

“I would not harm it,” said the jailer, “for I have 
noticed how you cared for it, and I have watered it 
often.” 

Chamey thanked the man for his kindness, and 
after that he always saved part of his drinking water 
for the little plant. 

One day a heavy storm arose, and beat down upon 
the little courtyard. Chamey looked around his cell 
for something to use as a cover for his plant, but 
everything was clamped to the stone walls of his 
prison. Hail began to fall; something must be done! 
So Chamey bent down over the little plant, and 
protected it from the storm with his own body. He 
was soon drenched with the rain, but his little plant 
was saved. 

And so day by day the plant grew in the sun until it 
had a glossy heavy stem, and needed no protection 
from the storm. 

At last the time came when Charney was set free. 
When he left his prison he had the plant carefully 
removed to his home, where it continued to grow and 
flourish, tenderly cared for by the man who would 
have died of a hopeless heart had he not been cheered 
by the brave Picciola — ^for that was the name Chamey 
had given his plant. 


191 


Arbor Day 
I 

You know that Arbor Day is a day set aside for the 
planting of trees. Perhaps you think that school 
children have always observed Arbor Day, but that 
is not true. 

The first Arbor Day was observed in Nebraska in 
1874. How proud Nebraska school children must be 
of that fact. Since then nearly every state in the 
United States has established such a day, and many 
states have also established Bird Day, because, as 
you know, birds are of so great importance to oiu* 
trees 

As you take a part in the exercises of Arbor Day, 
do you think of the pleasiffe the trees you help to 
plant will give the children who will live after you? 
Do you ever stop to think how glad we should be that 
the people who lived before us thought of planting 
many of the shade and fruit trees which we enjoy 
today? 


II 

Here is an interesting experiment for you to try 
when the spring comes. Take a twig or small branch 
of a pussy-willow tree. Keep it in a bottle of water 
imtil all the soft furry buds fall off and the stem sends 
out several tiny rootlets. When the roots look quite 
strong dig a deep hole in the ground and remove a 
good deal of the soil, for the rootlets will need a very 
comfortable bed. 


192 


Next lift the little plant into place, gently putting 
the soil around it until the hole is almost full. Then 
pour in a large pail of water. After the water has 
soaked away, fill up the hole, packing the earth firmly 
to hold the little stem and roots in place. Water it 
once again, and leave it to the sunshine. Each spring 
its soft little blossoms will tell you when the cold 
weather is over. 

Who will sing in the Spring? 

Pussy- will-ow ! Pussy- will-ow ! '' 

All willow slips take root quite readily if planted in 
damp places. Branches of the cotton-wood, or poplar 
tree, root even more easily. Many shrubs or bushes 
will do likewise; so almost anyone can have the pleasure 
of watching a tree or plant grow. 


Caring for Trees 
I 

Thousands of trees are destroyed every year through 
carelessness. If people only realized that trees are 
really alive they would try to help them grow. 

You see, a tree, although alive, cannot move to 
find what it needs. The tree must wait until the 
things it needs come to it, for it has only roots, a 
trunk, and branches in place of legs and body. 

Perhaps you think that the very kindest thing you 
can do for a young tree is to water it freely. But if 
the tree were given its choice it would prefer having 

1 . . 193 


the soil loosened about its roots, for if the soil is loose 
and porous, air and moisture are admitted more easily 
than if the soil is hard. So if you want to help a 
young tree do not let the soil about the roots become 
hard. Keep it loose so that the tree can drink and 
breathe. 

If we want to help trees we should see to it that their 
enemies are prevented from harming them. Our 
friends, the birds, will help us keep insects from injur- 
ing the trees, but they cannot do all the work. Not 
every bird likes to eat fuzzy caterpillars, so we fasten 
bands of tanglefoot flypaper around the tree trunks. 
When the caterpillars of the tussock moth, and of 
other moths, crawl up the trunks to find a place to 
spin their cocoons they will be caught in our sticky 
traps. 


II 

Of course you know that many of our city trees 
wear boxes around their trunks, or tall collars of wire 
netting, so that horses will not gnaw and injure the 
bark. Have you ever seen a tree trying to heal itself 
after an injury of this kind? It grows new bark from 
the outer edges until the wound is covered up. 

If the wound covers too great a surface the tree 
cannot heal itself. It is like the beautiful beech tree 
which some thoughtless city boys who were visiting 
in the country had doomed to die. About five or six 
feet from the ground they had cut away the bark in 
a broad band which circled the trunk. Poor helpless 
tree! It had probably taken fifty years to grow. 

194 • 



Helping Trees to Heal Themselves 




In a year it had died a slow death, and today it 
stands a dreary skeleton, and will finally crumble 
away to dust and mold. 

You see, it is this way with trees; they are covered 
with their protecting bark just as the body is covered 
with a protecting skin. The skin does not heed a 
slight wound, for it soon heals. It is so with a slight 
injury to the bark of a tree. It can grow new bark 
over the bare spot if it is not too large. Sometimes 
you will see trees with a score of such wart-like scars, 
but a tree cannot heal a place where the the wound 
encircles the trunk, nor where it exposes too great a 
surface. 

Sap is the blood of the tree, and oozes from a wound 
just as blood runs from a wound in one’s own body, 
only the sap runs more slowly. If the inner bark, 
where the sap runs, is cut all around, the sap can no 
longer find its way up and down the trunk, and the 
tree dies. 


Protecting our City’s Trees 

Would you like to form a league for the purpose of 
protecting the trees and shrubbery of your streets 
and parks? 

The members of the Park Commission and the City 
Forester would be greatly pleased with such help. 

The duty of the members of such a league is to keep 
watch over the trees and shrubs, to detect any enemies 
and to report any decay in the trees. When there is 
196 


decay or disease the '^tree doctors^' are sent to treat 
the patients. 

In many of our cities the Boy Scouts have taken up 
the work of protecting the city trees with enthusiasm. 
Already those cities show the effect of their work, for 
the streets and parks are much more attractive and 
beautiful than ever before. 


How TO Measure the Height of a Tree 



When you take a walk in the park you may wish to 
know how tall some tree is. You may find its measure 
in a very simple way. No, you need not climb it. 

Some simny morning, carry a stick 
three and a half feet long near the 
spot where the tree grows. 

Thrust six inches of the stick 
into the ground; that will 
leave three feet above 
the ground. Meas- 
ure the length of 
the shadow 
which the 
stick 


197 


casts. Next measure the shadow which the tree 
casts. 

Suppose the shadow from the stick is four feet long, 
and the shadow from the tree is sixty feet long. 

Now, make an example to read like this: 

4 ft.: 3 ft.: 60 ft.: (?) the height of the tree. 

This example is worked out in this way: 

4 

or 3x60 = 180 ft. 

180-:- 4 = 45 ft., the height of the tree. 

Should you wish to know how thick the trunk of 
the tree is, measure the distance around. The diameter, 
or distance through the trunk, is a little less than one- 
third the distance around it. 

Suppose the trunk measures six feet around. Its 
thickness through will be a little less than two feet. 


Autumn Leaves 

The beauty of the autumn leaves is one of the 
wonderful sights of the fall of the year. In October 
the forests are decked in brown and red and gold, and 
the setting sun seems almost to set the trees aflame. 
Then is the time to gather the most brilliant leaves 
that can be found, and ''wax'^ them for future use. 

Do you know how to ‘Vax^^ leaves? It is a very 
easy thing to do. All you need is a little beeswax or 
198 


a bit of paraffine and a warm iron. The dull glossy 
waxed surface will preserve the leaf many months. 

At Thanksgiving time the waxed leaves can be used 
to decorate the table. Some of the sprays, when 
placed in a hollowed-out pumpkin, will form a very 
pretty centerpiece which will well repay you for the 
small trouble of waxing’^ the leaves. 

QUESTIONS 

How many different kinds of shade trees do you know? Fruit 
trees? Can you name a spot near your home where you think a 
tree should be planted? 

Name some of the birds that live in the city trees. 

Have you ever made a collection of leaves, one from each of 
the different trees in your neighborhood? 

Will you press them between the leaves of an old book, and 
paste them on sheets of paper? 

Outline them with a pencil so that you will have a picture of 
them. 

If you do not know their names, ask some one to tell you, or 
go to the library and look them up in a tree book. Make a 
record on each sheet giving: 

Name : 

Date 

Where growing 

Condition of tree 

What might be done to help its growth 

Will you select a tree, or several trees, which you will care for 
this year, giving each one a name and reporting their condition 
to your teacher from time to time? 

Will you read about the making of paper from wood pulp? 

199 


WHEN WE PLANT A TREE 

What do we plant when we plant the tree? 
We plant the ship that will cross the sea; 

We plant the mast to carry the sails; 

We plant the plank to withstand the gales, 
The keel, the keelson, the beam, the knee: 
We plant the ship when we plant the tree. 

What do we plant when we plant the tree? 
We plant the houses for you and me; 

We plant the rafters, the shingles, the floors; 
We plant the studding, the lath, the doors. 
The beams, the siding, all parts that be: 

We plant the house when we plant the tree. 

What do we plant when we plant the tree? 

A thousand things that we daily see; 

We plant the spire that out-towers the crag; 
We plant the staff for our country's flag; 

We plant the shade from the hot sun free — 
We plant all these when we plant the tree. 

— Henry Abbey. 

~T 




CARING FOR OUR ALLIES, THE BIRDS 
I 

''Save our birds, or lose our trees,"' is the slogan, or 
motto, of the United States Bureau of Agriculture. 
All thoughtful people understand the need of pre- 
serving the trees for the welfare of the nation; but not 
everyone understands the need of protecting the birds 
which live in the trees. 

Birds perform an important work in caring for trees, 
for they destroy the harmful insects which attack the 
trees. If these insects were allowed to grow unchecked, 
they would in time kill not only the trees, but all 
vegetable life. So you see how needful it is to protect 
the birds as well as the trees which shelter them. 

Our public school children have for some time done 
excellent civic work during the spring and summer 
in caring for our common birds; but too often little 
or nothing has been done to help our little feathered 
friends during the long cold winter months. 

Many children think that all of the birds which they 
see in winter are able to take care of themselves, and 
need no attention from human beings. When they are 
taught differently, they are anxious to learn how to 
make friends with the birds that stay over cold weather, 
and to help them to pass a happy winter. Some- 
times they really save their lives by providing food 
when the ground is frozen and covered with snow. 

Food is the winter birds" most serious problem, for 
often the severe cold and hard snowstorms make it 
impossible for them to find insects and their eggs; and 
201 


too often these little defenders of our trees and gardens 
die of starvation during the winter. 

Our little feathered helpers, and allies in our fight 
against insect enemies, surely deserve our protection. 
We cannot give aid to them in any better way than by 
making feeding places for them near our homes. 

II 

The making of and caring for bird-tables giyes 
great pleasure to children. A well-cared-for bird-table 
soon increases the number of birds in any community. 
When the children see their little bird-guests flock to 
the banquet prepared for them on the trays, they feel 
well repaid for their 
efforts in behalf of the 
little creatures. 

When making a bird- 
table here are some of the 
problems that must be 
decided: 

What shall we use for 
the table? 

How large shall it be? 
How shall it be pro- 
tected from cats? 

What kind of food shall be placed on it, and how 
shall the food be prepared? 

Where shall it be placed? 

This is what one boy wrote of his bird-table: 

My bird-table brings me lots of enjoyment. It is 
made of a board about twelve inches long, eight 
202 



inches wide and one inch thick. I bored a hole in 
each of the four corners. Then I fastened wire in 
each of these holes and tied them together about 
twelve inches above the board. In one corner I fast- 
ened the cover of a baking powder can securely. 
This is the birds' drinking cup. They love to have 
me fill it with milk and let it freeze, for they love 
frozen milk. I use crumbs, and seeds which I gather 
in summer, for food. Pieces of fat and bits of bacon 
must be chopped fine for hungry birds. 

I take good care of my table. It is hung on the 
side of the house out of the reach of the cat. I sweep 
my table off after every snowstorm. 

— Alice M. Burley {Adapted). 



These are excellent homes for birds because they 
are cat-proof. Thorny rose bushes trained about the 
posts would keep cats from climbing. Strips of tin or 
203 



zinc, eight to ten inches wide, tacked around the posts 
as guards will also prevent puss from making a call. 

The wren house measures ten by fourteen inches. 
The floor projects four inches on each side of the house, 
so that the cat cannot gain a foothold. The entrance 
is just the size of a silver quarter, ’so that English 
sparrows are excluded. The martin house is divided 
by partitions into a four family house. 


THE PLANTING OF THE APPLE TREE 
Come, let us plant the apple tree. 

Cleave the tough greensward with the spade; 
Wide let its hollow bed be made; 

There gently lay the roots, and there 
Sift the dark mould with kindly care. 

And press it over them tenderly. 

As, round the sleeping infant's feet 
We softly fold the cradle sheet; 

So plant we the apple tree. 

What plant we in this apple tree? 

Buds, which the breath of summer days 
Shall lengthen into leafy sprays; 

Boughs where the thrush with crimson breast. 
Shall haunt and sing and hide her nest; 

We plant upon the summer lea 
A shadow for the noontide hour, 

A shelter from the summer shower. 

When we plant the apple tree. 

— William Cullen Bryant 
204 


FLOWERS FOR OUR CITY 

When you pass a jeweler's shop window you often 
stop to look at the brilliant colors of the precious 
stones, do you not? The rich red of rubies, the deep 
blue of sapphires, the restful green of the emeralds, 
and the radiant colors of other gems so delight the 
hearts of men and women that they have always 
longed to possess such beautiful jewels. 

Mother Nature is very fond of the colors of the ruby, 
the sapphire, the emerald, as you can readily see when 
you take a walk in the park any day in warm weather. 
There in the flower beds you will find some of her 
living jewels. In the country she plants and tends 
many of them herself, but in cities she has very little 
chance to do so without help. 

Do you ever notice how much more attractive the 
streets are where flowers bloom in the windows and 
flowei: beds? When you see how little room some of 
them take up, it seems as if any boy or girl who really 
wanted one could have a garden. 

You see, a garden may be as large as a public square, 
or it may be but six inches square. Either garden will 
give a certain kind of pleasure which nothing else 
can give, because it is a place filled with living things. 

You have read of the great Hanging Gardens of 
Babylon, which were called one of the seven wonders 
of the world. King Nebuchadnezzer, who lived more 
than 3000 years before the birth of Christ, or nearly 
5000 years ago, had them built to please his beautiful 
queen, Amytis. 


205 



Queen Amytis was a native of Media. When she 
came to Babylon she longed for something to remind 
her of her mountain home. So the king, we read, 
"'reared near the palace a series of majestic arches 
which rose seventy-five feet from the ground.'' 

These arches supported a series of terraces which 
were filled with earth, and planted with trees, flowers 
and shrubs. The Hanging Gardens, as the terraces 
were called, were so large that they formed a park in 
mid-air, and there the king and queen feasted with 
their courtiers and enjoyed the evening breezes. 

1. Window Boxes 

Of course, no one would want such gardens today, 
but a little hanging garden at a kitchen window will 
often give as much pleasure to its owner as the 


206 


Hanging Gardens of Babylon gave to Queen Amytis. 
A six-inch flower-pot garden will cheer a little invalid for 
many months. So you see, even if you cannot have a 
large garden space you can still have a garden. 

Here is a list of some freely blooming plants for 
window boxes: Petunias; Zinnias; Ageratum, some- 
times called ^'Floss Flower;'' Verbenas; Geraniums; 
Sweet Alyssum; and Variegated Periwinkle for trailing 
over the edges of the window boxes. 

2. Flower Beds 

There is one class of flowers which require so little 
care that almost all they need is planting. Year after 
year they will push their green leaves out of the earth 
and raise their gay blossoms of cheer. These flowers 
grow from bulbs. A bulb resembles an onion, and 
the reason bulbous flowers require so little of our care 
is that Mother Nature stores in the thick bulbs the 
food which the plants need in the spring. 

Probably you know the names of some such flowers. 
You remember the little song of the daffodil you 
learned in kindergarten days — 

*'Daffy-down-dilly has come up to town 
In a green petticoat and a gold gown." 

The bulbs of narcissus or daffodils, crocuses and 
tulips, and the roots of '"blue flags" or iris, cost very 
little. Plant a few of these out-of-doors in the fall. 
Almost before the snow is gone in the spring the 
crocuses will bloom. They will soon be followed by 
the daffodils and later by the tulips and iris. When 
207 


they die down, leave them in the ground to come 
again another spring. After the first frost cover the 
ground with leaves. 

In the parks the bulbs are taken up and dried when 
through blooming to make room for other plants, but 
it is not necessary to follow such a plan. 


Annuals and Perennials 

The plants whose roots die in the fall are called 
Annuals. The plants whose roots live on from season 
to season, or 'Vinter over,’' are called Hardy 
Perennials. 

Since most annuals do not bloom until summer or 
early fall, hardy perennials are much more satis- 
factory than annuals to plant in your garden; but the 
snowy dwarf sweet alyssum and the gay dwarf 
nasturtium, both of which are annuals, make charming 
edging plants or "borders.” 

Try planting such borders as these about your 
vegetable patches this year. 

Following are lists of some of thelmost satisfactory 
of our American flowers: 


Aster 

Bergamot 

Chrysanthemum 

Columbine 


Hardy Perennials 


Coreopsis 
Hollyhock 
Hardy Pinks 
Poppy 


Hardy Phlox 
Yellow Sweet Alyssum 
Sweet William 
Viola 


Hardy Perennials, if raised from seeds, seldom 
bloom until the second year after being sowed. 

208 


Annuals 

Ageratum Petunia Verbena 

Cosmos Scarlet Sage Zinnia 

Nasturtium Sweet Alyssum (White) Corn Flower 

For house plants, geraniums and begonias bloom 
almost continuously if kept in a sunny window. Every 
flower growing in our homes, our schools, our public 
squares and parks helps to make our city more beauti- 
ful, and a pleasanter place in which to live. 

If you ever plant and learn to love a flower you will 
love all flowers, and will take great care not to injure 
or destroy any flowers in the streets and parks, and 
you will not allow anyone else to do so. You will 
become one of the helpers in the ''Flowers for Our 
City^^ movement. — From The Mary Frances Garden Book. 


With the kiss of the sun for pardon. 

And the song of the birds for mirth, 
One is nearer God's heart in a garden 
Than anywhere else on earth. 

— Selected. 


Who loves fair flowers 
And shady bowers. 

And all the joy a garden brings. 

Has sweet content 
And merriment. 

And best of all, a heart that sings. 

— Seleeted. 


209 


MY PLANT 

I dropped a seed into the earth. It grew and the 
plant was mine. 

It was a wonderful thing, this plant of mine. It 
did not bloom and I did not know its name. All I 
know is that I planted something apparently lifeless 
as a grain of sand and there came forth a green and 
living thing unlike the seed, unlike the soil in which it 
stood, unlike the air into which it grew. No one 
could tell me why it grew, nor how. It had secrets 
all its own, secrets that baffle the wisest men; yet 
this plant was my friend. It faded when I withheld the 
light, it wilted when I neglected to give it water, it 
flourished when I supplied its simple needs. One 
week I went away on a vacation, and when I returned 
the plant was dead; and I missed it. 

Although my little plant had died so soon, it had 
taught me a lesson, and the lesson is that it is worth 
while to have a plant.— l . H, Bailey, 


God made the flowers to beautify 
The earth, and cheer man's careless mood; 
And he is happiest who hath power 
To gather wisdom from a flower. 

And wake his heart in every hour 
To pleasant gratitude. —Wordsworth. 


I always think the flowers can see us and know what 
we are thinking about. — George Eliot. 

210 



Two Views of the Same Lot. What has Happened? 




VACANT-LOT GARDENS 


In many cities vacant lots are being used for gardens 
by the families who live near them. The land on which 
these gardens are cultivated is idle land, loaned by 
the owners with the understanding that it will be 
returned to them at any time that they sell the land 
or desire to use it in any other way. 

The land is first prepared for cultivation by plow- 
ing, and harrowing, then divided into gardens about 
one-sixth of an acre in size and assigned to the different 
families who want a garden plot. Fertilizer and good 
seed are furnished to the gardeners and improved 
methods of gardening are shown to them. 

The families are charged nothing for the use of the 
garden, as the idle land is loaned without cost. The 
Vacant-Lots Association which plans the work divides 
the cost of preparing the land and providing the seeds 
among the gardeners, so the expense of each is not 
very large. 1 

The gardeners spread the fertilizer, plant the seeds, 
cultivate the growing plants, and gather the crops. 
After supplying their family needs they sell anything 
that remains. Can you think of any better way of 
using a vacant lot than for a city garden? 


I know a place where the sun is like gold. 

And the cherry blooms burst with snow. 

And down underneath is the loveliest nook 
Where the four-leaf clovers grow. 

, ^ — Ella Higginson, 


213 


CLEAN-UP WEEK 
Spotless Town 
I 

The mayor of every city in the United States wishes 
that he were the mayor of Spotless Town, and he 
hopes that some day his city will have that for another 
name. He knows that the citizens of such a city 
would be healthy and strong and happy. Of course 
you know why. It is because cleanliness means 
health and strength and happiness. 

Cleanliness also means beauty, for nothing that is 
dirty can be beautiful. ''Dirt is matter out of place.'' 
That is a very good definition of dirt, and if you think 
about it a moment you will see that it is a correct one. 

In other words, there is a place for everything, and 
everyone should try to put everything in its place, 
especially dirt. That is the way our own city may 
become as nearly a spotless town as possible. If 
everyone did this every day, every day would be a 
clean-up day. Of course there would have to be 
general clean-up days from time to time, just as 
there must be house-cleaning days in the best managed 
homes. 

The mother is the housekeeper of the home, but she 
cannot keep the house in the best of order unless every 
member of the family does his share to help. 

The. city is the home of all its citizens and the 
mayor is the city housekeeper. But even the mayor of 
Spotless Town could not keep his city in the best of 
213 


order without the daily assistance of all the citizens, 
both young and old. 

Tell some ways in which you can help. 

II 


HOUSEHOLD POLICE DEPARTMENT I ISSUED 
BULLETIN NO 1. CITY OF NEW YORK | Nov. 16, 1916 

WANTED 

Everyone In this house to be a goodi 
clean American citizen. Keep sidewalk 
and street clean. Put all refuse in the 
garbage cans and keep the covers on. 

ARTHUR WOODS 

POLICE COMMISSIONER 


'This is a picture of a bulletin which was distributed 
some time ago to the households of New York City. 
It was part of a great safety campaign. 

Do you think the word safety is the wrong word 
to use? 

It is not. If you stop to think you will readily 
see why. 

A Letter From a Tennessee Girl 
I 

Some time ago prizes were offered by a magazine to 
children sixteen years of age, and under, for the best 
letters on the subject of a clean-up campaign. One 
of the letters which received a special prize was written 
by a girl of sixteen. This is part of the letter: 

“First, let us consider the question of Clean-up Day 
214 


from the physical standpoint. What is health and 
how do we value it? 

“Upon the health and strength of our children the 
glory and greatness of our nation depend. In a few 
years the children will be men and women; what 
kind will they be? Healthy and strong, or narrow- 
chested, weak, dependent? Are they to be leaders 
among men, wise and healthy mothers, or the reverse? 

“If children are brought up properly and are taught 
the principles of health, truth, and honor, they will 
make us a nation of healthy, clean men and women, 
with clean homes and honest hearts. As children we 
should be taught the relation of cleanliness to health, 
and cleanliness begins with personal cleanliness. 

“We must also get plenty of fresh air. Many people 
are living in closed houses breathing over and over 
again the same air which contains little or no oxygen. 
Nothing so quickly lowers vitality as lack of fresh air, 
and we are easily overcome by disease germs if the 
house is not properly ventilated. Teach a child to 
demand fresh air and sunshine, for sunshine kills 
disease germs. 

“We must be sure that our water is clean and pure. 
Never drink out of a public drinking cup. This is 
one of the most common ways in which diseases are 
spread. 


II 

“On Clean-up Day we can remove the unclean things 
which attract flies, and thus prevent many diseases 
and deaths. When the children and community are 
215 


aroused and interested in this matter, there will be so 
few flies left that it will be a pleasure rather than a 
trouble to ''swat'' those that remain. 

"We must eat plain, simple, and pure food. When 
the children and other citizens let the merchant know 
that they will not buy from him unless his store is 
clean and his foods are kept under cover, then and 
then only, wall we have better and cleaner stores. 

"As children we should know the value of clean, 
fresh, pure foods, pure water, pure air; and the harm- 
fulness of unclean foods, impure water and impure 
air. We should know what causes diseases and 
should work on Clean-up Day to remove the causes. 
In this way, we shall prevent disease and death, and 
improve our own health as well as our neighbors'. 

"Children can help their city. Children are very 
much like grown people in many ways. They are 
often not given much credit for what they really 
know and can accomplish." —a Tennessee Girl 


Clean-up Days or Clean-up Weeks are now observed 
in thousands of towns and cities throughout the 
country. They are days set apart for public house- 
cleaning by the people of the community. Their 
purpose is to bring order and cleanliness into the 
streets, alleys, vacant lots and back yards of the city, 
thus improving the general health and comfort of the 
citizens. Usually clean-up days are observed in the 
spring, but people who take pride in their neighbor- 
hood will make every day a clean-up day 

216 


SPOKANE^S HEALTH ADVERTISEMENTS 


The depart- 
ment of health 
of Spokane, 
Washington, is 
an enemy of the 

fly- 

Not long ago 
it exhibited a 
large fly to 
show one way of 
preventing the 
death of babies. 
The fly's eyes 




blinked once in every 
ten seconds. The words 
below were printed in 
large letters: 

Death follows in 
my wake: watch me 
blink! Every time I do, 
a baby dies from a pre- 
ventable cause. Ob- 
server! What are you 
doing to help prevent 
this?" 

Flies are poisonous 
and deadly; destroy 
them, and help to save 
life. 


217 



Everyone knows that the habit of spitting is 
dangerous to public health, because of the spreading 
of disease from the germs contained in saliva. 

This poster shows how Spokane tried to prevent 
spitting in the street-cars and on the street and in 
other public places. 


WARNING! 


Look!! Listen!! 


La Grippe Pneumonia 

NO SPITTING 



Diphtheria Tuberculosis 

STOP SPITTING 
Under Penalty of Disease 

Ordinance No. A722 prohibits expectoration in pub> 
lie places and provides a penalty 
Help US Enforce this Ordinance 

Department of Health and Sanitation 


218 



The Filthy Flies 

House flies are not only filthy; they are dangerous 
to human life. Born in filth, reared in filth, they feed 
upon filth and carry filth with them, not only causing 
annoyance, but marking a trail of disease and death 
wherever they go. 

They carry disease germs on the outside of their 
bodies just as a dog carries fleas. As many as 350,000 
germs have come from a single fly while it was wallow- 
ing in liquid food. They also carry many more germs 
inside their bodies, with which they pollute the food 
on which they light. 

They come into our kitchens and dining rooms 
loaded with filth and germs from the street, from the 
garbage can, from decaying animal and vegetable 
matter, and from the sick room, carrying sickness and 
death with them. 

The fly must have undisturbed filth in which to grow 
from the egg, and this growth usually takes about eight 
days. If all filth is removed or destroyed every day the 
fly will have little chance to breed. Therefore the easiest 
way to get rid of flies is to destroy their breeding places. 

Garbage cans should be kept tightly covered, and 
yards and streets should be kept clean and free from 
decaying animal and vegetable matter. All doors and 
windows of dwelling houses, stores and markets 
should be screened; and no food supplies should be 
exposed for sale unless protected by netting. Kill 
every fly as quickly as it appears; do not allow this 
menace to health to exist for a moment in your home. 

219 


Midget Murderers 

I 

There are thousands of murders in our country every 
year, and we never even try to catch the murderers. 
We do not think of putting them in prison. Once in a 
great while we dp kill a few of them, but we let millions 
go about, carrying swords in their mouths, which they 
thrust into anyone who gives them a chance. These 
midget murderers are mosquitoes. 

Of course not every mosquito is a murderer, never- 
theless we are in great danger whenever we are bitten 
by a mosquito. As you know,' the mosquito does not 
bite in the way an animal does. It does not have a 
mouth, but uses a hollow tube somewhat like a round 
file. With this tube it pierces the skin of animals and 
sucks their blood. 

Now, if the person whom the mosquito bit before 
biting you was ill, the mosquito will put into your 
blood the germs of the disease of the ill person; and, 
unless you are very well so that you can resist the 
poison of the germs, you will be sick yourself. 

Of course the mosquito does not know anything 
about this, and is only hunting food. It was not 
until a few years ago that people found out the danger 
of being bitten by mosquitoes. 

II 

In 1900 some doctors made a very interesting 
experiment. These doctors were very anxious to 

220 


find out why yellow fever spread so rapidly. Often 
people who had not been near a fever patient came 
down with this terrible disease and died. 

Two rooms were used for the experiment. In one 
room were seven beds in which yellow fever patients 
had been ill. The bedding was not changed; the same 
sheets and pillow cases were left on the beds. Seven 
well people were placed in these beds. The windows 
were screened and no mosquitoes were allowed to 
enter. Not one person 
^'caughf the fever. 

In the other room 
seven perfectly clean beds 
were placed. Seven well 
people were put into these 
beds. The windows were 
not screened. Mosqui- 
toes were allowed to enter 
and bite the people. All but one of the seven came 
down with yellow fever. What does that show? 

When the doctors realized that mosquitoes carry 
such diseases they began to clean up Havana, Cuba, 
where yellow fever was then raging. First they had 
the marshes drained; and then had kerosene oil sprayed 
on all stagnant water. The government passed laws 
punishing people who had stagnant water on their 
grounds. They did all these things because stagnant 
water is necessary for mosquito babies to live. With- 
out it they never exist. When the breeding places 
were destroyed in Havana, the mosquitoes disappeared 
and the yellow fever with them. 

221 


The effect of mosquito eradication in Havana on 

Yelloyf Fever malaria. 

Before After Before After 



Ill 

The Panama Canal could never have been built if 
the mosquitoes had not been exterminated, for it is 
impossible for white men to live and work where 
yellow fever rages as it does in such warm countries. 
Under the direction of General W. C. Gorgas, who 
had learned how to fight mosquitoes in Cuba, yellow 
fever and malaria were practically wiped out in the 
Canal Zone. 

General Gorgas and his helpers knew just what was 
needed to drive the disease-carrying mosquitoes out 
of the plague-stricken cities of Panama and Colon. 
They filled the swamps, pools and drains with the 
earth that had been dug out of the canal. They used 
petroleum to destroy the mosquito wrigglers in stag- 
nant water that could not be drained off. They 
built sewers, garbage plants and water supply systems; 
they cleaned and paved the streets and screened the 
houses, killing the insect pests by destroying their 
breeding places. Fever patients were so carefully 
protected that mosquitoes could not reach them, and 
vigorous rules of health and cleanliness were enforced 
among the people. 

As a result, the death rate in the Canal Zone from 
malaria and yellow fever is actually lower than that of 
New York or Washington, and a mosquito is said to 
be almost a curiosity. The conquering of this disease 
carrier in the tropical area of the Panama Canal is 
perhaps as great a triumph as the building of the 
canal itself. 


222 


The mosquito is the only known means of spreading 
malaria, or '^chills and fever/' Malaria is caused by 
germs which live in the blood of persons suffering from 
that disease. 

The mosquito, in sucking the blood of a malaria 
patient, takes into its stomach millions of the malaria 
germs. When it bites another person it throws some 
of these germs into the blood of that person. 

When the mosquito bites a person it throws its 
own saliva into the wound to thin the blood of the 
person it is biting. It does this because blood is too 
thick for it to suck up through the tiny tube in its bill. 
So you see if it has bitten a sick person, its saliva is 
full of germs, and it throws disease germs into the 
blood of the person it bites next. 

In this way the germs which cause malaria get into 
the blood, and probably in no other known way. 

It seems strange that such tiny little insects could 
kill people and animals, doesn't it? Let everyone do 
his part in destroying the water cradles of all baby 
mosquito wrigglers. 



What Happened in a Broken Bowl in one Back-yard 
223 


NO STANDING WATER, NO MOSQUITOES 

Mosquitoes will not breed in running water. The 
eggs require standing water for their development, and 
cannot hatch in any other way. 

A mosquito lays from 200 to 300 eggs at a time. 
No amount of filth in the water prevents the eggs from 
developing where the mother mosquito has placed 



Where Mosquitoes Like to Breed 


them. Tin cans and dirty water are just as good for 
the mosquito as the clearest pond or the rain barrel. 

Examine your yard carefully and make sure that it is 
free from any place that might possibly serve as a 
breeding spot. Loose bricks in the yard, buckets, 
barrels, chicken’s drinking pans, watering troughs, 
broken bottles and china, tin cans, flower pots, a 
swampy yard — any place or anything that will hold 
water long enough, will serve as a breeding place for 
mosquitoes. It does not matter where the water 
224 


happens to be, for mosquitoes will breed just as readily 
indoors as outdoors. 

Tanks, barrels, or other vessels in which it is neces- 
sary to keep standing water should be covered with 
fine screen cloth or cheese-cloth. Swamps and other 
standing water that cannot be drained or screened 
should have their surfaces covered with a film of 
kerosene oil. The film of oil cuts off the air supply of 
the young mosquitoes or wigglers and they choke to 
death. Two tablespoonfuls of oil will cover fifteen 
square feet of water. 

The way to destroy mosquitoes is to destroy their 
breeding places. If there are no breeding places, 
there will be no mosquitoes. 

Of course, you will kill every mosquito you see 
about the house, especially in the winter and early 
spring. Why? 


QUESTIONS 

Why do we have a Clean-up Day? 

Why is Fire-Prevention Day, if properly observed, really a 
Clean-up Day? 

Make a list of the things in your own neighborhood which 
might be improved. 

How could these things be accomplished? 

What would you suggest that our school could do to help the 
ash and rubbish collector on Clean-up Day? 

What can everyone do at home? 

What can each family in the neighborhood do to make their 
city beautiful? 

How will such co-operation help the health of the school 
children? 

How can you help fight flies and mosquitoes? 

225 


16 


PUBLIC SQUARES AND PARKS 
1. The Public Square 

This picture shows a public square. It is called 
public because it belongs to the people. Another 
name for it would be the people’s square. 

The grass is for the children to play on. The 
benches are for the people to rest on. The trees 



provide shade and homes for the squirrels and birds. 

The public square is sometimes called a beauty 
spot. Can you name a square that has flower beds? 
A fountain? The statue of a great man? A band-stand 
for concerts? 

The square is an open space, a breathing spot. 
How does that help our health? 

Public squares are often named after great men, 
as Washington Square, Franklin Square, Madison 
Square. Can you name others? 

226 



QUESTIONS 

What are the names of some of the squares in your city? 

Tell about the squares nearest to your school, or your home. 

WTio pays the taxes for the public squares? 

Who pays the taxes for the other squares which are covered 
with buildings? 

Sometimes in the early spring you see a sign in the square 
which reads, '‘Please keep off the grass.’' What is that for? 

How do pubhc squares add to the beauty of a city? 

2. The Public Park 

The park is a great public playground for the people 
of the city. 

Can you think of anything that brings more happiness 
to all the people than a beautiful park? ''Let us go 
out to the park/' everybody says when a holiday 
comes. All the people enjoy it because all the people 
own it and have a right there. 

The park is a great open breathing space covering 
acres, and sometimes many square miles of ground. 
When you ride along the broad driveways or walk 
through the woodland paths, or play on the grass, you 
are not crowded as in the city. There is plenty of 
room to run and jump and exercise. 

The park is a wonderfully interesting place. If you 
wish to play games there are ball fields, tennis courts, 
and playgrounds. If you want to have a picnic, there 
are shady nooks in the woods with benches and tables. 

If you like the water, there are fountains, lakes 
and brooks; or perhaps a river where you can row 
your boats and go swimming. If you love flowers, 
227 


there are flower beds and gardens and greenhouses. 
If you like wild animals you can go to the Zoo and see 
lions and tigers. If there is no Zoo in your park 
there are birds and squirrels in the trees. 

These are only a few of the interesting things in the 
parks. 

The park is a place to learn about nature. Almost 



A Scene of Beauty in a City Park 


all kinds of trees are there — strange trees, plants, and 
flowers that you can see nowhere else. In the green- 
houses are tropical plants and rare flowers. Can you 
name some of them? 


QUESTIONS 

Name some of the different kinds of animals, birds, and 
insects to be seen in the park. 


228 


Did you ever attend a play festival in the park? A concert, 
or any other celebration? Tell about them. 

Tell about the statues and the great men they represent. 

If everything in the park belongs to you, why are you not 
allowed to pick the flowers? 

Why are you not allowed to dig up plants and take them home? 

It costs the city a large sum of money to keep up the park. 
Name some of the things the money is spent for. Who pays for 
them? 

What does the park gardener do? The park guard? 

How can you enjoy the park in the winter time? 

How does the park benefit your health and the health of the 
people? 

How does the park help to make the city beautiful? 

3. The Band Concert in the Park 

(A composition written by a school boy) 

What a dreary place our city would be if we had no 
public parks! In the fresh air of such open breathing 
spaces a person soon becomes rested and forgets how 
tired he was. What would the people who live in 
crowded districts where the air is close and stale do 
without parks? 

Any evening during the summer, on concert day, 
you will see entire families enjoying the music in the 
free open air. There will be a hard-working father 
listening to classic music, and quietly resting after a 
long day's labor. Next to him will be sitting his wife, 
who for an hour or two may forget her household 
cares. About them will be the young people and 
children who enjoy the freedom of the open air most 
of all. 


229 


No one who listens to good music can help being 
better for it, because music speaks a language which 
all can understand. Then, too, these concerts make 
the people who were born in foreign countries feel at 
home. They make them feel that the city in which 
they live and work has a real interest in their welfare 
and happiness. 

If people had to pay admission to a concert hall to 
hear such music very few would be able to attend. 
It costs our city a large sum of money to provide the 
free open air concerts, but the authorities say that the 
cost is small compared with the good they accomplish. 

QUESTIONS 

I 

How far is your home from the nearest public square? 

Does your family go there often? 

How far do you live from the largest park? 

To whom does the park belong? 

Do you go to the park often? 

What interesting things do you see there? 

What animals live in the park? 

Do you ever feed them? 

What is your favorite animal? 

Do the animals live there in winter? 

Do you know why the keepers of the menageries find it best 
to keep the monkeys out of doors all winter instead of bringing 
them into the buildings? 

If fresh air is so necessary to prevent animals from having tuber- 
culosis, how should people feel about good ventilation? 

II 

Will you write a story about your latest visit to the park? 

230 


The next time you visit the park will you make notes of the 
different kinds of trees and flowers you see? 

Is a city of contented happy people more prosperous than 
one filled with unhappy people? Why? 

Does it pay the city to spend money in keeping parks, public 
gardens, public baths, and playgrounds for the people? Why? 


w 



The Beautiful Public Buildings of Springfield, Mass. 
231 



WHAT MAKES A CITY BEAUTIFUL 

Everyone likes to be proud of the city or town in 
which he lives. The people who live in New York, 
Boston, Philadelphia, Washington, Chicago, St. Louis, 
San Francisco, and other great centers are proud of 
their cities. 

You may be just as proud of your city or town, for 
every place has its own points of interest and beauty. 
Have you ever taken a ride in a sight-seeing auto- 
mobile? The sight-seeing automobile takes visitors to 
the show-places of the city. The conductor calls 
attention to the well-laid out streets and avenues, the 
smooth paving, the comfortable houses, the green 
lawns and shade trees. He points out the public 
buildings, the City Hall, the Court House, the Post 
Office, the Library, the Museum, the Art Gallery, 
the Hospital, the tall business buildings, the historic 
sites. 

He shows you the school buildings, the playgrounds, 
the recreation parks, the bathhouses, the public squares 
and statues of noted men. The sight-seeing auto 
carries you through the parks and along the river or 
lake near which the city is built. When you return 
you say, '^What a beautiful city!’" 

Your town or city may not be large enough to have 
all the points of interest of a metropolis, but it will 
have many of them. 

Make a list of the things that your city is proud of. 

Make a list of the things that can be done to make 
it more beautiful. 


232 


Perhaps you can help now, and when you grow up 
you can help still more to make your city beautiful. 

QUESTIONS 

I 

Do you think our city would have to spend so much money for 
police stations and jails if we had a truly clean city? Why? 

How will doing away with saloons help our City Beautiful? 

Write a word-picture of your idea of a City Beautiful telling 
how its streets and houses would appear; describing its public 
buildings and its parks; giving some of its laws and the reasons 
for such laws, making mention of the kind of people who would 
be found in such a city. Would the people be healthy? Would 
they be happy? Would they be prosperous, and earn good 
wages? Would the public school buildings be beautiful and 
sanitary? Why would the children have excellent chances for 
education? Would there be any breweries and saloons? Would 
the people be interested in every good thing their city was trying 
to accomplish? Would they demand good services from the 
people who held public office? Would they work together and 
be generous and kind, and help one another in making their city 
comfortable, prosperous and happy — in making their city truly a 
City Beautiful? 

Write a story about your neighborhood as you hope it will be 
ten years from now, telling what changes you hope will be made. 

II 

In what way do all American children have servants? Name 
some of their servants. 

In what way do the people of American cities resemble Aladdin? 

What can all children do to show their appreciation of the 
benefits given them by the American flag? 

I believe in boys and girls — the men and women of a 
great tomorrow, —E. 0. Grover, 


233 


SAFETY FIRST 

is free from danger who, even when safe, is on 
his guard — PuhUus Syrm. 

How THE City Protects Us 

Every day we run many risks in going about our 
daily tasks. In crowded places the dangers of fire 
and of accident from trolley cars and street traffic 
are always present. Therefore the city makes rules 
and does many other things to protect its citizens. 
If it were not for these safeguards, accidents would 
be much more frequent than they are. 

The rules regarding automobiles are a familiar 
example. Every automobile must carry two head- 
lights in front to light the road and to warn others of 
its approach. It must carry a red danger light at the 
rear, and must be equipped with a brake so that it 
can stop quickly and a signal horn to announce its 
coming. All along the road are signs directing the 
driver to go slowly because there is a railroad crossing, 
a sharp turn or a bad curve, or some other dangerous 
spot ahead. 

These rules are safety-first rules for the protection 
of both those who ride and those who walk. Like- 
wise there are rules for other street traffic and officers 
to enforce them. If these rules were fully obeyed 
there would be very few accidents and still fewer 
people killed. 

If we use our eyes we shall see many other ways in 
which we are protected. The fire-station, the fire- 
hydrant on the curb, the fire-alarm box on the corner, 
234 













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-_!v 111!' " --T"-^ -- - ~- ri'l'w i I i.iiiD 




' .»i ' « tWft ■ i.»»w w i»gi^y ’. f .; l, «W K ! » ; 


5-vAS.^^ 






rS>’ 


Tell the Story op These Pictures 



the fire-escape on the tall buildings, the exit doors in 
public halls, are all safeguards from fire, placed where 
they are by the city authorities for our safety. 

All around us are these safeguards for our protection 
from danger. They are everywhere — in our homes, 
at school and on the street. 

How We May Protect Ourselves 

We have seen how the city does its part in protecting 
its citizens from danger and in preventing accidents 
and loss of life. Still more important is it that citizens, 
both young and old, should do their part in protecting 
themselves. 

Perhaps you can tell of many narrow escapes that 
you have had; of the many times that you have just 
missed being seriously hurt on the street or at play. 
These escapes should make you think; they should be 
lessons in carefulness. 

Of what use are safety rules if you do not heed them? 
If you run in front of moving trolley cars and auto- 
mobiles, whose fault is it if you are hurt? Of what 
use is the danger sign on the thin ice of the skating 
pond if you go too near and break through? If you 
are careless and take chances and are injured, no one is 
to blame but the chance-taker — ^yourself. 

The good citizen obeys the rules and regulations 
for his safety, and in so doing he helps protect himself 
and others. He understands that safety rules are 
not made just because the city authorities like to 
make them; they are made to protect all the citizens 
and to prevent loss of life and limb. 

236 


Every day we see or hear of all kinds of accidents. 
In a large city the most numerous are caused by falls, 
automobiles, trolley cars, falling objects, fires, burns, 
suffocation, machinery, firearms, motorcycles, bicycles, 
and defects in the streets and sidewalks. The city 
authorities are able to prevent many accidents, but 
even the best safeguards cannot always protect us from 
our own carelessness. The surest means of safety is 
personal carefulness. The safe rule is: '^When in 
places of danger, be on your guard.’’ 

Learn the rules of safety first and obey them; help 
protect yourself and others. Be careful and warn 
your friends to be careful, too. It is better to be a 
minute late than to be run over; it is better to be 
safe than sorry. 


237 



This Boy Took a Chance’ 

The result was a broken limb; it might have been loss of life, 


YOUR CIVIC DUTY 

People often injure their neighbors through careless- 
ness and neglect. The following instmctions in regard 
to the comfort and safety of others were distributed by 
the Health Department of one of our large cities. 

1. Respect your neighbors as much as yourself. 
Don't beat your rugs or stir up ashes so that the 
dirt will be blown into their apartments to fall on their 
food or be breathed by them. 

2. Don't throw your garbage or ashes at the cans 
provided, but into them, and don't fill them to over- 
flowing. Don't leave them uncovered. If you do 
any of these things you are selfishly indifferent to the 
health and comfort of others. 

3. Don't buy fish, meat or fruit from dirty dealers 
who fail to protect their wares from dust, dirt, and flies. 

4. Don't spit on the sidewalk and public floors, to 
the disgust and danger of other persons. 

5. Don't keep tin cans where mosquitoes can breed. 

6. Don't put flower boxes or other loose objects on 
your window ledges unless properly fastened. Many 
persons are seriously injured by such articles falling 
on them. 

7. Don't place anything on the fire-escape which 
would obstruct it in case of fire. To do so is nothing 
short of criminal. 

8. Report to the Health Department any unsanitary 
conditions. If you are well, keep well by helping others. 

9. Keep your eyes open. Learn to observe. It 
costs nothing, and is a habit that will always help you. 

238 



The Chance Taker. 


The Careless Workman. 


WATCH YOUR STEP! LOOK BEFORE YOU 
LEAP! 

More than 1,100 persons were injured in Pennsyl- 
vania in 1917 from falls into pits or over obstructions. 

Reports for a period of twenty years show that 
nearly 200,000 people were killed or injured while 
trespassing on the railways of the United States. 
Of this number, equaling the population of a large 
city, about one-half were killed and the other half 
were seriously injured or crippled for life. 

Three out of four elevator accidents occur through 
carelessness in entering or leaving the car. 

Narrow escapes should remind you of the im- 
portance of being careful; they should teach you to 
be watchful in the presence of danger and not to 
rely on others for safety. 

Most accidents are due to carelessness and chance- 
taking. Do not take chances, for the chance-taker 
eventually gets caught to his own injury. 

QUESTIONS 

Name some of the ways in which lead pencils or penholders 
have injured people’s eyes through carelessness. 

Did you ever know a child whose teeth had been knocked out? 
Why will the child suffer from that accident all through life? 

Why is it dangerous to “box” or pull a child’s ears? 

Did you know that the great electrician, Thomas A. Edison, 
was made deaf when a boy by the thoughtlessness of a railroad 
employee? When you go to the library, read about it. 

Name some other accidents resulting from dangerous “horse- 
play.” 


240 


A THREE-HUNDRED-MILLION-DOLLAR 
BONFIRE 

The loss of property through fire in the United 
States is said to amount to more than three hundred 
million dollars a year. Besides the loss in property, about 
five thousand persons lose their lives, 
and about fifty thousand persons are 
injured by fire each year. It has been 
shown that three out of four fires that 
occur could be prevented by observing 
the rules of safety first. 

Common Causes of Fire 

1. Spontaneous combustion of oily 
rags, waste paper, rubbish, paint 
material, benzine, gasoline, etc. 

2. Careless handling of matches. 

Rule: Always break a match in half 

before throwing it away! How could 
this rule prevent forest fires? 

Usesafety matches if possible. Other 
kinds should be kept in a metal safe, 
away from rats and mice. Why? 

3. Carelessness with gas. 

Never hang draperies near gas jets. 

Every gas jet should be protected by 

a glass or wire globe. 

If you notice an odor of gas never look for the leak 
with a lighted candle or match. Why? 

4. Carelessness with kerosene oil. 

Never use kerosene for kindling a fire. Why? 

17 241 



It is better not to place a lighted lamp on a table 
covered with a long cloth. Why? 

Do not fill lamps at night. Why? 
5. Carelessness with electricity. 

Do not forget to turn off the 
current when you leave the electric 



To Avoid Accidents from Fire 

1. Children should not make bonfires 
without the aid of older persons. 

2. Matches should be kept out of reach 
of small children. 

3. Children should be taught to be 
careful of open fireplaces. 

4. Children should be taught to roll if their clothing 
catches fire. This would save scores of lives in a year. 

Safety first! Look ahead! See the danger before 
the accident. 



How to Put Out Flames 


If your clothing 
catches fire, do not run. 

Roll, in a rug if pos- 
sible, on the floor or 
ground. 

In putting out fire on 
another personas cloth- 
ing, use rugs or coats or 
blankets. In throwing a rug on another person, be 
careful not to allow your own clothing to catch fire. Let 
242 


the sufferer lie down and roll. Stand back of the rug, 
and throw it from the head downward. 

If You Are Caught in a Burning Building 

1. Do not rush with the crowd to the door. There 
is often more danger of being crushed in the jam than 
of being burned to death. 

2. Stop to think. If there is much suffocating smoke, 
lie down and creep on hands and knees to the door or 
window. If possible wrap a wet towel around your 
head, covering nose and mouth. Why? 

Always notice where the fire-escapes are when you 
enter a large building. The doors of all large halls, 
theaters, churches, and schools should be marked 
''Exit'' and open outward. Why? 

QUESTIONS 

Name some other causes of fires than those mentioned. 

How do great fires start — with big blazes? 

Are you as careful as you should be? 

Will you try to remember “Safety First”? 

Why is Fire Prevention Day, if properly observed, really a 
Safety First Day? 


When you light a match you start a fire; be sure to 
put it out. Common matches are more dangerous 
than safety matches. Safety matches are made 
safe by placing part of the lighting substance on the 
the tip, and part on. the box. For this reason they will 
light only when rubbed on the striking surface of the box. 
Only safety matches should be carried in the pocket. 

243 


FIRST AID TO THE SICK OR INJURED 

1. Little Accidents 

Safety First teaches us how to avoid accidents. 
First Aid teaches us what to do when they occur. 

One out of every four accidents is a little one, 
calling for only a simple remedy and not resulting in 
loss of time. Most of such little accidents arise from 
little dangers which care would have prevented. 

A small scratch — something in the eye — a surface 
bruise from a slight fall — may mean little more than 
an inconvenience for a few days. If not properly 
attended to at once, little accidents may ' become 
serious. The loss of an arm, an eye, or a leg, takes the 
joy out of life. The sad part of it is that almost all 
such losses could be prevented by forethought. 

2. Neglected Wounds 

Treatment of all injuries is most necessary. Serious 
cases of blood poisoning often occur from neglect; and 
not only mean loss of dollars and cents, but also great 
suffering, and perhaps the loss of a finger, a hand, a 
leg, or even of life. 

For example: An employee in a steel mill, while 
changing rolls, caught his finger on the sharp edge of a 
bolt and did not have the injury treated. The wound 
became infected, making it necessary for the injured 
man to be absent from his work for three weeks. 

3. Fourth of July Accidents 
A Safe and Sane Fourth of July means Safety First. 

244 



How Can You Help Prevent an Injury op This Kind ? 




If toy pistols and firecrackers and other toys containing 
gunpowder were perfectly safe playthings, nothing 
would be said about discouraging their use, but gun- 
powder wounds are extremely dangerous. 

Gunpowder is not clean. It is very dirty because it 
contains so many of the deadly germs of lockjaw. 
This germ has such a terrible effect upon the body that, 
if not destroyed in time, it causes the jaws to lock 
together so tightly that they cannot be forced open. 
The disease nearly always causes death. 

Toy pistols, firecrackers and blank cartridges, being 
loaded with gunpowder, are very dangerous playthings. 
Any physician or nurse will tell you that the hospitals 
have many deaths from tetanus or lockjaw after the 
Fourth of July. 


4. What are Germs? 

Germs are little living particles too small to be seen 
without a miscroscope. They cause more diseases and 
deaths than any of the big animals you are afraid of, 
such as lions or bears or tigers. They make great 
deep sores out of little cuts, and prevent wounds from 
healing. So you can readily see how necessary it is to 
keep all materials which touch broken skin perfectly 
clean — and they cannot be clean if they are touched by 
the hands. Neither is any cloth clean which has come 
in contact with dust. Since you know this, you will 
try to keep germs out of any wound. 

Do not think that every germ does evil, for some 
germs are good — just as some people are good and some 
are bad. Indeed, we depend for some kinds of food 
246 


upon the action of certain good germs. Among such 
foods are cheese and vinegar. 

The disease germs which we dread most in cases of 
wounds are the germs of blood-poisoning and lockjaw. 
These are everywhere about us, in standing water, air, 
dust. They cannot do a bit of harm to the outside of 
the body if the skin is unbroken, any more than a fly can 
do harm to the armor of some old knight. But if they 
can enter where the skin is broken, they begin to do all 
kinds of harm, which sometimes results in months of 
suffering from infected’^ wounds, and sometimes 
finally causes the patient to lose a leg or an arm, or 
perhaps to die. 

5. First Aid Treatment of Little Accidents 

Every home should have tincture of iodine, absorbent 
cotton, and sterile gauze where they may easily be 
found. These articles may be purchased at the drug 
store at small cost. Always send for a doctor if an 
accident is serious. 

Powder Wounds 

These are dangerous because powder carries the 
germs of 'Tockjaw.^' 

Wash the skin. Paint with iodine. 

Apply vaseline. This loosens any bits of powder in 
the wound. It may be washed off the next day. 

Every wound of this character must be treated by a 
doctor. 

Cuts and Small Wounds 

Apply tincture of iodine. 

247 


Soldiers in the army carry this valuable remedy in 
their kits. They are taught to pour it on a wound 
immediately, because it will destroy germs. 

To apply iodine to a cut — roll a little absorbent 
cotton on a tooth pick, dip into the iodine and paint 
the cut. Throw it away after using. 

Burns and Scalds 

For slight burns or scalds apply any one of the 
following: — 

Bicarbonate of soda (baking soda) dusted on; 
olive oil; vaseline; white of egg; flour-and- water paste; 
or starch and water paste. 

Bruises 

Bruises are ''black and blue'’ spots from a blow or 
fall or pinching, causing small blood vessels to rupture 
under the skin. 

Apply at first: 

Ice, or ice water; or alcohol and water, half-and- 
half; or witch-hazel or arnica; or vinegar diluted with 
water. 

Afterward use hot applications. Gentle rubbing or 
massaging helps to remove the discoloration. If the 
surface is scraped, as from a fall in sand, paint with 
tincture of iodine. 

Fainting 

Fainting is caused by too small a quantity of blood 
going to the brain. 

To prevent: Frfesh air; drink of cold water; half 
248 


teaspoonful aromatic spirit of ammonia in water; 
bending head between knees. 

If the person has fainted: 

Keep the crowd back; place in a lying-down position. 

Dash the face with cold water. 

Let the patient inhale smelling salts or household 
ammonia. 

Rub the limbs toward the body. 

Remember: An unconscious person cannot swallow. 
Medicine may enter the windpipe and cause the patient 
to strangle. After the patient becomes conscious, 
stimulants may be given; such as one-half teaspoonful 
of aromatic spirit of ammonia, or hot coffee. 

Something in the Eye 

Wink. Do not rub. Lift upper lid down over lower 
lid, blowing opposite nostril. If this method fails, 
ask an older person to roll the lid back over a match 
stem, and remove object with the corner of a clean 
handkerchief. If the accident is at all serious, send 
for the doctor. 

Stings or Bites of Insects 

Extract the sting if it remains imbedded in the 
flesh. Apply household ammonia, diluted with a 
little water, or a solution of bicarbonate of soda (one 
teaspoonful soda to one cup water). 

Mud, wet salt, slice of onion, arnica, witch-hazel or 
camphor are soothing. If there is much swelling, 
apply cracked ice. Apply spirit of camphor or alcohol 
to mosquito bites. 


249 


Electric Shock 

The touching of electric wires (live wires) is extremely 
dangerous, often killing instantly. Avoid touching 
any wire, whether it seems dangerous or not. 

Do not touch a person in contact with a live wire 
with your bare hands, for the current will pass through 
his body to your own. If possible, cover your hands 
with rubber (tops of rubber boots, rubber gloves). 



then touch only his clothing. A dry stick or board 
may be used to knock a loose wire away from the person 
in contact with it. Send for a doctor. 


QUESTIONS 

I 

What is the chief danger from fire-works? 

Do they sometimes cause damage to property? 

What are some good ideas for celebrating Independence Day? 
What is meant by a ^‘safe and sane Fourth ’7 
What did you do last Fourth of July? 

Do you think of any way you would have enjoyed the day more? 
250 


What is the first aid treatment for powder wounds? 

Why are such wounds so very dangerous? 

II 

Name some ways to avoid accidents from fire. 

What would you do if your clothing caught fire? 

How could you help a child whose dress was in flames? 

What is the first aid treatment for burns and scalds? 

Suppose your little brother falls and bruises his knee — what will 
you do to help him? 

If your mother should faint, what would you do? 

If a cinder is blown into your sister’s eye — what can you do? 
What should always be done in cases of serious accident? 


BREATHING AND POSTURE 

Wrong Posture 
Hollow chest 
Weak lungs 
Shallow breathing 
Poor circulation 
111 health 

Head 
Neck 
Chest 
Abdomen 
Balls of feet 

should be balanced one over the other in a straight line. 

Why is caring for your own health safety-first? 

Why are correct breathing and posture safety-first? 

What is meant by ^‘an ounce of prevention is worth a 
pound of cure?” 

Adapted from Junior Red Cross Manual. 


Right Posture 
Developed chest 
Strong lungs 
Deep breathing 
Good circulation 
Vigorous health 


251 


THE BUBBLING FOUNTAIN 

This is a magic cup 
That needs no lifting up, 

And gushes the cool drink 
From an over-flowing brink, 

From an ever-filling hollow. 

As you swallow. 

You can feel the water go 
Against your lips with tumbling 
flow 

And all its noises hear. 

As if you were a deer 
Or a wild goat. 

Sucking the water into your 
throat 

Where a little brook goes by 
Under the trees and summer sky. 
Oh, it is fun to drink this way! 
Like a pleasant game to play. 
Not like drinking in other places; 
And it is fun to watch the faces 
That come and bend them at 
this urn. 

Something you can learn 
Of each person's secret mind: 

Know which is selfish, which is kind. 

Many of the young are old and think 
A drink is nothing but a drink; 

Water is water, always the same; 

They could not turn it into a game. 

252 



But the children know 'tis a gay, rare thing 
To drink outdoors from a running spring; 

And laugh and quaff, 

As if their zest 

Would challenge to a test 

The bounty of this store 

Which gives, and gives, and still has more. 

— Helen Hoyt 


DAILY RECORD OF HEALTH HABITS 

1. I washed my hands before each meal today. 

2. I washed not only my face but my ears and neck, and 
cleaned my finger nails today. 

3. I tried to keep fingers, pencils, and everything that 
might be unclean out of nay mouth and nose. 

4. I drank a glass of water before each meal and before 
going to bed, and drank no tea, coffee nor other injurious 
drinks today. 

5. I brushed my teeth thoroughly in the morning and in 
the evening today. 

6. I took ten or more slow deep breaths of fresh air 
today. 

7. I played outdoors or with windows open more than 
thirty minutes today. 

8. I was in bed ten hours or more last night and kept my 
window open. 

9. I tried today to sit up and stand up straight, to eat 
slowly, and to attend to toilet and each need of my body at its 
regular time. 

10. I tried today to keep neat and cheerful constantly and 
to be helpful to others. 

— Junior Red Cross Manual. 

What is your report on each of the above points? 


253 


/ 



To Make a Sanitary Drinking Cup from any 
Piece of Clean Paper* 

First cut a piece of paper the same size as the pat- 
tern; trace the folding lines and make the cup. Next 
unfold this and note the folds. Then cut a piece of 
paper twice the size, or about eight inches square, 
and fold a larger cup in the same way as the smaller. 
With a little practice this can be done without the 
aid of a tracing. 

* From “The Mary Frances First Aid Book.” 

254 


QUESTIONS 

I 

Make a list of some dangers which children meet every day in 
going to and returning from school. 

How may they avoid such dangers? 

Do they run into any dangers in their own playground? 

What can you suggest to make your playground safer? 

How is your fire drill an example of ‘^safety first’’? 

Did you ever see a large fire? 

Do you know how it started? 

What do you think about the use of kerosene in starting fires? 

II 

What is first aid treatment? 

Why should everyone learn something about first aid? 

Have you ever just escaped being severely injured? Tell 
about it. 

Whose fault was it? What did you learn from your experi- 
ence? 

What is meant by “Make your head save your heels”? How 
could you “make your head save your life”? 

What is meant by “Look before you leap?” 

What do you think about safety first — does it pay? 

Why are foolish risks cowardly acts? 

III 

Name some ways in which you can protect yourself and others 
from danger. 

Can you tell about a time when you have done this? 

Is it safe for children to play in the streets? 

Do you realize that sometimes the brakes of automobiles and 
trolley cars do not hold, and the cars get beyond the drivers’ 
control? 

Do you realize that this is especially so on a rainy day? Do 
you know what the word “skid” means? 

255 


t 


PART III 


THE AMERICAN RED CROSS 
Junior Membership and School ActivitieSo 
Patriotism and Service. 


257 


A PROCLAMATION 

To THE School Children of the United States: 

The President of the United States is also president of 
the American Red Cross. It is from these offices joined in 
one that I write you a word of greeting at this time when so 
many of you are beginning the school year. 

The American Red Cross has just prepared a junior 
membership with school activities, in which every pupil in 
the United States can find a chance to serve our country. 
The school is the natural center of your life. Through it 
you can best work in the great cause of freedom to which we 
have all pledged ourselves. 

Our Junior Red Cross will bring to you opportunities of 
service to your community and to other communities all 
over the world, and guide your service with high and reli- 
gious ideals. It will teach you how to save in order that 
suffering children elsewhere may have the chance to live. 
It will teach you how to prepare some of the supplies which 
wounded soldiers and homeless families lack. It will send 
to you through the Red Cross bulletins the thrilling stories 
of relief and rescue. And best of all, more perfectly than 
through any of your school lessons, you will learn by doing 
those kind things under your teacher^s direction, to be the 
future good citizens of this great country which we all love. 

And I commend to all school teachers in the country the 
simple plan which the American Red Cross has worked out 
to provide for your co-operation, knowing as I do that 
school children will give their best service under the direct 
guidance and instruction of their teachers. Is not this 
perhaps the chance for which you have been looking to 
give your time and efforts in some measure to meet our 
national needs? 

September 15, 1917 Woodrow Wilson. 


258 


A GREAT HONOR 

On September 15, 1917, a great honor came to the 
school children of America. From the White House in 
Washington the President of their country sent them 
a letter, in the form of a procla- 
mation. In this proclamation 
President Wilson asked the school 
children to do their part as good 
citizens of their country by joining 
the Junior Red Cross, and to help 
in the mercy work of the Ameri- 
can Red Cross. 

You see, until the time of Presi- 
dent Wilson's proclamation, most 
people had thought of children as 
needing grown people's help. Their 
parents or their teachers or the 
government had always been planning something more 
to do for the children, some more advantages to give 
them, and they had not stopped to think of what the 
children could do. 

But the World War so changed conditions that it 
set everyone thinking, and some of the wiser people 
said, ''Why wait for children to grow up before they 
help us? Children love to help. Let us ask them to 
do their part as good citizens now." 



The Red Cross, merciful and glorified, lives imper- 
ishable. It summons all Americans to the greater 
work of the future. 


259 


THE JUNIOR RED CROSS 

Before the Junior Red Cross was planned, only 
grown people belonged to the Red Cross. When the 
grown people prepared the junior membership they 
invited twenty-two million new members into the 
ranks of their army, the army which fights our greatest 
enemies — suffering and disease. 

The President knew that the school children of 
America wanted to be good citizens. He knew that they 
wanted to be helpful. He was glad when the Red Cross 
prepared a junior membership with school activities, 
for the Junior Red Cross is the gateway through which 
children may enter the Land of Helpfulness for their 
Country and their Flag. 

The soldier may die for love of his country, but boys 
and girls can live to serve their country. If they 
join the Red Cross when they are young, they have 
many more years in which to serve than if they wait 
until they are grown. 

The Junior Red Cross made a glorious record of 
service during the World War, a record of which it 
may well be proud. Now its members are enlisted 
in peace activities which will work great good to their 
country and to the world. They are carrying their 
ideals and habits of service into the community and 
national life. By working for health, and by aiding 
in the fight against disease and suffering, they are 
preparing for the years to come; they are preparing 
the Junior Red Cross of today to be the American Red 
Cross of tomorrow. 


260 


THE GOOD CITIZEN 

What is meant by a good citizen? 

The good citizen can be counted on for help in time 
of need. The good citizen is a good neighbor. 

To be a good neighbor is to be the best of citizens. 

You know how much one good neighbor can do. 

Imagine how much good a thousand good neighbors 
working together could do. Five thousand. Fifty 
thousand. The Red Cross is made up of millions of 
good neighbors working together, doing for others 
what one good neighbor tries to do alone. 

So the Red Cross is made up of the best citizens. 

The plan of the Red Cross is to teach the Junior 
Members the duty of good citizenship. The highest 
duty of the good citizen is to serve his country. 

Scarcely a month passes without a call to the Red 
Cross for aid from some people in distress. 

By giving funds they helped the people in — 


1906. San Francisco Fire, giving $3,087,469 

1906. Japanese Famine, giving 245,855 

1908. Messina, Italy, Earthquake, giving .... 985,300 

1912. Titantic Shipwreck, giving 125,933 

1913. Ohio Flood, giving 2,472,287 

1916. U. S. National Guard, Mexico, giving. . 100,000 


If you add these sums, you will get a little idea of the 
good work done by the American Red Cross before 
the United States entered the World War. During 
the war tens of millions of dollars were spent in helping 
the war-stricken countries of Europe. You can see 
that the Red Cross is truly a good neighbor. 

261 


How THE Juniors Served in Time of War 

They learned to make bandages and hospital out- 
fits for wounded soldiers. 

They made clothing for needy children. 

They collected books and magazines for the soldiers 
and sailors. 

They helped to gather crops and other food. 

They made games and sweetmeats for the soldiers. 

They knitted sweaters, helmets, mufflers and wristlets. 

They made various other articles according to the 
rules and regulations sent out by the Red Cross. 

They helped the families of the men who were serving 
in the army or navy. 

They were always ready to do any service which the 
Red Cross planned for junior members. 

Can you name other ways in which they served? 

How THE Juniors Serve in Time of Peace. 

They are showing what good grown-up citizens they 
are going to be by doing their part well as junior 
citizens. The small children will imitate them and 
thus they will help make other good citizens. When 
money is needed they can aid their school to raise its 
funds for Red Cross work. 

If they are good Junior Red Cross members they will 
be good citizens. Not only will they be a real help in 
their own home country, but will do what they can to 
help all the world. 

In order to give such good services to their country, 
children should do all in their power — 

262 


To keep their health; 

To perform their daily duties well; 

To improve their neighborhood or the community in 
which they live; 

To care for harmless birds and animals; 

To learn what they can of first aid to the injured; 

To learn something about home nursing; 

To practice habits of thrift and saving at all times; 

To learn to spend money and to use materials so 
wisely that nothing will be wasted; 

To share their good things with others about them 
who do not have such blessings; in other words, to be 
unselfish and helpful; 

To do what they can to relieve the sufferings of 
children in every land, and to share with them some of 
the privileges and happiness which they enjoy. 

The Red Cross asks children to pay attention to 
these things because they will help them to be good 
citizens, anxious to serve their country as faithfully in 
time of peace as in time of war. 

Can you name other ways in which they may serve? 



263 





THE FLAG OF SERVICE 

It is no wonder that girls and boys are proud of 
being members of the Junior Red Cross, for by enlist- 
ing under the Red Cross flag they enlist in the service 
of their country. 

Those who love the Stars and Stripes best of all flags 
will love the Red Cross Flag of Service next best, for 
it stands for all that is noble in the hearts and minds 
of the civilized nations of the world. 

Some day this world will forget about such a thing 
as war. Instead, people will be busy building things 
which will make the world a better place for boys and 
girls and men and women to live in. 

Some day people will live according to the laws of 
health so that sickness and disease will become very 
rare, and people will die only of old age or accident. 

Some day kings and ruling classes will be done away 
with, and the people of all countries will make their 
own laws. When that bright day comes there will be 
much less sorrow and suffering. People will be happy; 
and we know that the right kind of happiness is the 
right of every human being. 

Every young citizen can help bring such a wonder- 
264 


ful day. Every child now living loves the children 
who will live in the coming years. The way to make 
this world a happy place for those coming children is 
for the children now living to do their parts as good 
Jimior American Citizens. 

The Red Cross on the white flag means 
"'If I die for my country, I give my life, 

If I live for my country, I give my life.’' 


YOUR COUNTRY 

Your country is all that surrounds you, 
all that has reared and nourished you, 
everything that you have loved. That land 
you see, those houses, those trees, those 
smiling girls that pass, that is yoiu* country. 
The laws that protect you, the bread which 
rewards your toil, the words you exchange, 
the joy and the sadness which come to you 
from men and the things among which you 
live, that is your country. The little 
chamber where you once saw your mother, 
the memories she has left you, the earth 
where she reposes, that is your country. 
You see it, you breathe it everywhere. 
Picture to yourself, my son, your rights 
and your duties, your affections and your 
needs, your recollections and your gratitude, 
all united under one name — and that name 
will be — Your Country. 

— Emile Souvestre. 


265 


THE STORY OF THE RED CROSS FLAG 
1. Henri Dunant 

There is a little country lying in the heart of the 
Alps mountains. The name of this country is Switzer- 
land. Here, at Geneva, in the year 1829, a little boy 
was born. This boy’s name was Henri Du-nant. 

He was a splendid little fellow, 
and as he grew up loved to play all 
kinds of games. But if anyone were 
hurt in playing, Henri was the first 
to try to help the sufferer. He was 
that way after he came to be a man. 
It made him sad to see people suffer. 

When he was thirty-one years old 
he was traveling near the battlefield 
of Solferino and saw that terrible 
battle fought. When the battle was over and the 
smoke cleared away, thousands of wounded French 
and Sardinian and Austrian soldiers lay without help 
for days upon the open ground. 

Henri did all he could to help the wounded and 
dying at that time. When he returned to his home he 
wrote a book which he called ^'Souvenir de Solferino,” 
in which he told the horrible story of their suffering; and 
he asked in the book whether it would not be possible 
to form a society in all countries which in times of war 
would help the wounded no matter what their nation- 
ality, no matter whether they were enemies or not. 

Read also the story of Florence Nightingale in Young American Reader, 
“Our Home and Personal Duty.” 



266 


His book was much talked about, and many people 
became interested in his plans. 

2. The Meeting at Geneva 

Sometime afterward several nations sent men to 
Geneva, and these men formed the society which 
Henri Dunant had wished for. They all signed a 
treaty saying that their nations agreed not to fire 
upon the people of the society who were helping the 
wounded soldiers. This was the Treaty of Geneva. 

''But how will we know who the helpers are?'' some- 
one asked. 

"Every helper must wear the same kind of badge," 
was the answer. 

"What shall it be?" everyone wondered. 

Now, the national flag of Switzerland is a white 
cross on a red field. The committee of men thought it 
would be a compliment to the Swiss people, in whose 
country they had met, to reverse the colors of their 
flag and use it as a symbol of their new society. 

So they used a red cross on a white field, and from 
that came the name of the Red Cross. After the Stars 
and Stripes, the Red Cross Flag is the most beautiful 
flag in the world, is it not? 

Since the original meeting at Geneva many similar 
meetings of the Red Cross societies of the world have 
been held. At these meetings plans have been made not 
only to relieve the sufferings of war, but to lessen the 
suffering and disease that afflict the world in time of 
peace. 


267 


THE AMERICAN RED CROSS 

The American Red Cross came to be in this way. 
At the time when the first Red Cross meeting was held 
in Geneva, the Civil War was going on in the United 
States, and our people were too busy with their own 
affairs to learn much of the new organization. 

You have read the story of Clara Barton and of her 
work for wounded soldiers. You remember that, after 
the Civil War was over. Miss Barton went to Europe 
and, while in Switzerland, learned more about the Red 
Cross. She was told that the United States had been 
asked to become a member, but had not done so; and 
she promised to do everything possible, on her return, 
to bring this about. 

After several years of hard work on the part of those 
interested, the Treaty of Geneva was finally signed by 
President Arthur in 1882, and the American Red Cross 
was formed with Miss Barton as its first president. 

For many years the American people paid little 
attention to its Red Cross, but when the World War 
came they found it ready. In France, Belgium, 
Italy, Russia, in every war-stricken country of Europe 
where the cry of distress was heard, on every battle- 
field, at every point of danger, there the brave Red 
Cross workers carried relief and comfort to the hungry, 
the sick, the wounded, the dying. Now in time of 
peace, and in the same spirit of service, it seeks to 
prevent disease and to relieve hunger and suffering 
everywhere, both at home and abroad. 


268 




THE INTERNATIONAL RED CROSS 


Up to the present time more than forty nations 
have signed the Red Cross treaty and have become 
members of the International Red Cross. 

International means between nations. Do you not 
think that such an understanding between nations, 
and such kindness toward sufferers, will bring about a 
day of peace when all the nations of the earth will 
dwell in safety from the terrible destruction of war? 

How can you help bring that day? 

QUESTIONS 

What kinds of work does the Red Cross do? 

Do you know of any other work which shows as much mercy, 
kindness, and helpfulness? 

How does the Red Cross help in cases of fire, flood, or famine? 

Can you mention some catastrophes in which the Red Cross 
came to the help of our people? 

Tell what you know about the work of the Red Cross at the 
time of the Johnstown flood; the San Francisco earthquake; 
the Cherry mine disaster. 

Do you know what is meant by the ''three R’s'’ of the Red 
Cross — ^rescue, relief, reconstruction? 

Do you belong to the national army which fights sickness, 
sorrow, and disease? 

What can children do to help in such a great army? 

What is your idea of a good citizen? 

Would you not be happy to be able to say that every child in 
the United States was a junior member of the American Red 
Cross? 

How would that affect the future of our country? 

How would it make it a better place for the children who will 
live after you? 


V 


270 





THE MEANING OF OUR RED CROSS 

The red in our cross stands for sacrifice, for 
giving life, as the warm, crimson blood gives life 
to the body. The cross has the same length on all 
four sides of its arms, to signify that it gives life 
equally to all, high or low, east or west. It stands 
alone always, no words or markings on it, to show 
that the Red Cross workers have only one thought 
— to serve. They ask no questions, they care 
not whether the wounded be ours or of another 
people — their duty is to give, and to give quickly. 

The Red Cross stands on a white ground, 
because real sacrifice can come only from pure 
hearts. Service must come, not from hate, but 
from love; from the noblest thoughts and wishes 
of the heart, or it will fail. That is why children 
love this flag. It is drawing them by millions in 
the schools of our land, in a wonderful army of 
rescue under the President, to make, to save, to 
give for others. And some day the children of 
all lands, under the Red Cross, will teach the 
grown people the ways of understanding and of 
friendship; the beautiful meaning of the Red 
Cross which is echoed in their lives. 

H. N. MacCracken 


271 




THE LIVING LIBERTY FLAG OF THE 
GREAT WAR 

This living flag was spread out over seven acres on 
the shore of Lake Michigan on the vast parade ground 


of the naval training station at Great Lakes, Illinois. 
Nearly 10,000 men composed it and its staff. The 
star in the extreme left-hand corner was composed of 
126 men. The pole, not including the ball, contained 
700 men; the ball alone, 250 men. Sixteen hundred 
men composed the white stripes, 1900 the red stripes, 
1800 the stars, and 3400 the blue field. 

CO-OPERATION 

Can you tell something about the great good accom- 
plished during the World War by the co-operation, or 
the working together, of helpful organizations like the 
Young Men’s Christian Association, Young Women’s 
Christian Association, Knights of Columbus, Jewish 
Welfare Board, War Camp Community Service, 
American Library Association, Salvation Army, and 
Young Men’s Hebrew Association? 

If citizens pull together — making good laws and elect- 
ing men who will work for the good of all — ^why will 
everyone in the world be happier in the years to come? 

Could any one person, working alone, have brought 
liberty to our country? Could the different organi- 
zations, each working alone, have accomplished a'v 
much as they did by working together? 


What I do, added to what you do, added to what 
others do each day, forms the history, or story, of the 
world. What kind of story will the children of the 
future read about what we did during our lives? 

19 273 





THE NEW ARISTOCRACY 

The aristocracy of the future will not 
be the aristocracy of birth or wealth, but 
of men who serve, who do things for their 
country and their fellowmen. The great 
prize to be won by men of ambition to- 
day is not money, but recognition as 
members of the aristocracy of service; 
this aristocracy that is open to every 
man, instead of the old dead and gone 
aristocracy that was open to those of 
particular birth or great wealth. 

— Charles M. Schwab. 


QUESTIONS 

What is the nAtaiiing of the word aristocracy? Do you often 
hear it used? 

Can there be an aristocracy in a country where all the people 
are free and equal? 

DEMOCRACY MEANS THE RULE OF THE PEOPLE. 

What is meant by “making the world safe for democracy?” 

Would the wwld be safe for democracy if some ruling class, 
like kings, tried to get more and more countries to rule over? 

274 


LINCOLN AT INDEPENDENCE HALL 

I have never had a feeling political that did not 
spring from the sentiments embodied in the Declara- 
tion of Independence. 

I have often pondered over the dangers which were 
incurred by the men who assembled here and framed 
and adopted that Declaration. 

I have pondered over the toils that were endured 
by the officers and soldiers of the army that achieved 
that Independence. 

I have often inquired of myself what great prin- 
ciple or idea it was that kept this confederation so 
long together. 

It was not the mere matter of the separation of the 
colonies from the motherland, but that sentiment in 
the Declaration of Independence which gave liberty 
not only to the people of this country, but, as they 
hoped, to all the world for all future time. 

It was that which gave promise that in due time the 
weights would be lifted from the shoulders of all men 
and that all should have an equal chance. This is 
the sentiment embodied in the Declaration of Inde- 
pendence. 

All my political warfare has been in favor of the 
teachings that came forth from the sacred walls of 
Independence Hall. May my right hand forget its 
cunning and my tongue cleave to the roof of my 
mouth if I ever prove false to those teachings. 

'Abraham Lincoln. 


275 



Our Flag has gathered and stored chiefly this 
supreme idea: Divine right of liberty in man. 
Every color means liberty; every form of star and 
beam or stripe of light means liberty; not lawless- 
ness; not license; but organized, constitutional liberty, 
liberty through law and laws for liberty. 

— Henry Ward Beecher, 


276 




IN FLANDERS FIELDS 

Of all the poems written by soldiers few have been more widely quoted 
than Lieutenant-Colonel John D. McCrae’s “In Flanders Fields." The author 
himself made the supreme sacrifice. 

In Flanders fields the poppies blow 
Between the crosses, row on row, 

That mark our place; and in the sky 
The larks still bravely singing fly. 

Scarce heard amidst the guns below. 

We are the dead. Short days ago 
We lived, felt dawn, saw sunset glow. 

Loved and were loved, and now we lie 
In Flanders fields. 

Take up our quarrel with the foe! 

To you, from failing hands, we throw' 

The torch. Be yours to hold it high! 

If ye break faith with us who die 
We shall not sleep, though poppies grow 
In Flanders fields. 

QUESTIONS 

Where is Flanders? How near is it to France? 

What form of government has France? 

What form of government do we have? 

Do many countries have this form of government? 

How are some other countries ruled or governed? 

Why did Americans enter the World War? 

How did this war help to “make the world safe for democracy? 
Will the children in years to come be thankful to the people 
who served in the World War in somewhat the way we are thank- 

277 


fill to George Washington, and the others who fought for liberty 
so many years ago? 

What is meant by “our quarrel with the foe 

What is meant by “the supreme sacrifice”? 

What is meant by, “To you, with failing hands, we throw the 
torch”? 

How can you hold the torch of liberty high? 

If you are willing to give youi* life for liberty, or 
democracy, as the men in Flanders Fields were; or. 

If you are willing to live your life. for liberty, or 
democracy, by living every day in the best way you 
know how, 

You are holding high the torch! 

You are showing your love for your flag. 


FREEDOM IS KING 

God said, I am tired of kings, 

I suffer them no more; 

Up to my ear the morning brings 
The outrage of the poor. 

Think ye I made this ball 
A field of havoc and war. 

Where tyrants great and tyrants small 
Might harry the weak and poor? 

My angel — his name is Freedom — 

Choose him to be your king; 

He shall cut pathways east and west. 

And fend you with his wing. 

— Ralph Waldo Emerson, 
278 


OUR FLAG 

Why do I love our flag? Ask why 
Flowers love the sunshine. Or ask why 
The needle turns with eager eye 
Toward the great star in Northern sky. 

I love Old Glory, for it waved 
Where loyal hearts the Union saved; 

I love it, since it shelters me 
And all most dear, from sea to sea; 

I love it, for it bravely flies 
In freedom's cause, 'neath foreign skies; 
I love it for its blessed cheer. 

Its starry hopes and scorn of fear; 

For good achieved and good to be 
To us and to humanity. 

It is the people's banner bright. 

Forever guiding toward the light; 

Foe of the tyrant, friend of right, 

God give it leadership and might! 

— Edward A. Horton, 


0 Beautiful! My Country! 

What were our lives without thee? 

What all our lives to save thee? 

We reck not what we gave thee; 

We will not dare to doubt thee. 

But ask whatever else, and we will dare! 

— Lowell. 


279 



Your Flag and My Flag 



A SONG FOR THE PATRIOT* 

Your flag and my flag, 

And how it flies today 
In your land and my land 
And half a world away! 

Rose-red and blood-red 
The stripes forever gleam; 

Snow-white and soul-white^ — 

The good forefathers’ dream; 

Sky-blue and true-blue, with stars to gleam aright — 
The gloried guidon of the day; a shelter through the 
night. 

Your flag and my flag! 

And, oh, how much it holds — 

Your land and my land — 

Secure within its folds! 

Your heart and my heart 
Beat quicker at the sight; 

Sun-kissed and wind-tossed — 

Red and blue and white. 

The one flag — the great flag — the flag for me and you — 
Glorified all else beside — the red and white and blue! 

Your flag and my flag! 

To every star and stripe 
The drums beat as hearts beat, 

And fifers shrilly pipe! 

* From “The Trail to Boyland,” by Wilbur D. Nesbit, Copyright 1904. 
Used by special permission of the publishers, The Bobbs-Merrill Company. 

281 


Your flag and my flag — 

A blessing in the sky; 

Your hope and my hope — 

It never hid a lie! 

Home land and far land and half the world around, 

Old Glory hears our glad salute and ripples to the 
sound. — Wilbur D. Neshit, 



Copyright by R. M. Glacken. 

Do You Know Your State’s Star? 

“Every big and little state has a twinkler of its own.” The date under 
each star in this flag is that of the year when that state helped to form or was 
admitted into the Union. 


QUESTIONS 

Read the poem on the page opposite. 

What is meant by “Ship of State”? 

What is meant by “Humanity is hanging breathless” on the 
fate of our country? 

Where does the poet imagine our “Ship of State” to be sailing? 
What can you do to help our country onward toward a Better 
Future? 

How will this help the whole world? 

282 



SHIP OF STATE 


Thou, too, sail on, O Ship of State! 
Sail on, O Union, strong and great! 
Humanity with all its fears. 

With all the hopes of future years, 
Is hanging breathless on thy fate! 


Sail on, nor fear to breast the sea! 

Our hearts, our hopes, are all with thee; 
Our hearts, our hopes, our prayers, our tears. 
Our faith triumphant o^er our fears. 

Are all with thee, — are all with thee! 

— Henry W. Longfellow 















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LIBRARY OF CONGRESS 



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